I currently suffer with TN1 and am on carbamazepine and can only speculate how I got it. My mind switches to the more important questions of alternative cures. I don't exactly like being on an anti-seizure drug. I am an esthetician by trade and know a thing or two about electrotherapy (in this case Galvanic current). I actually had been wondering if things like Galvanic current/high frequency could HELP TN1 sufferers. I am happy to pass down any knowledge I have accumulated over the years. Here's what I know:

I want to state for the record firstly that I have not used NuSkin galvanic spa. I don't know the milliAmps it operates at nor if it operates in a positive or negative polarity (or both).

Trigeminal Neuralgia is damage or pressure place upon the trigeminal nerve in your brain. It has 3 zones if you will (mandibular, maxillary, and ophthalmic. The idea that an at home device could shock and cause damage to this nerve inside your brain seems unlikely.

These at home gadgets are usually regulated in a way that is low grade (other wise you'd be putting people like me out of business! I mean why would you pay top dollar for the real deal if you could just do it at home right?). It's not that they don't work. They do. But the results will take you far longer to see than if you stepped into a clinical setting. This means that the type of power it puts out is less likely to do the sort of damage as to hospitalize you, give you brain/nerve damage, ect. Not to mention the lawsuits pending and this product would be yanked from the market. I think they are great for in between your clinical/in spa appointments. A maintenance device.

Galvanic current is direct (directly applied onto the skin) and has a constant frequency. A negative polarity may cause a warming and tingling sensation as it stimulates blood flow. A metallic taste may be noted due to the change in the saliva's acidity. Particularly if you have silver fillings in your mouth. A negative polarity gives us a skin cleansing process that softens and emulsifies hardened follicle sebum, called desincrustation. (A positive polarity gives us Iontophoresis which helps with penetration.)

Now I watched NuSkin galvanic spa's promo video. The lady seemed adamant that the metal conductor be flush with the skin "AT ALL TIMES", that a generous amount of conducting gel is applied, and that your fingers remain in full contact with the chrome panel. It is all about conductivity.

In treatments like high frequency (which works a bit differently) when we lift the conductor off the skin, we can visibly see an ark or conductivity from the electrode to the skin! The sensation is a zapping sensation. I am wondering if NuSkin's device will produce the same shock if the device is lifted off the skin even a little. If the face being worked on doesn't have as much fatty tissue I can see this happening around the temples, eyes, cheek bones and forehead.

It is possible that you had TN1 (didn't know it) and perhaps using Galvanic current flared it, aggravated the nerves. Not that it caused you to have Trigeminal Neuralgia. This is the very thing currently that I am trying to figure out!!!

Will using Galvanic current/high frequency aid or hinder TN1 sufferers? Maybe it would do nothing at all?

I suppose the only thing I can do at this point is use myself as a guinea pig, try it on myself and see what happens. On a side note I have read that recent studies indicate that acupuncture has either cured or greatly improved the facial pain of TN1. Some suggested that the combination of acupuncture and carbamazepine was the ideal treatment.