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Originally Posted by ibdvine
I have had a (constant) strange sensation in the left side of my face for a little over a year now. I am a 28 year old(f) and i did have a cavity of the left lower jaw that was drilled also over a year ago. The dentist that i had at the time was pretty ruff and i think he may have drilled into and damaged a nerve? not sure. This feeling feels like tightness and pressure and slight muscle weakness although i have full use of my face. I can feel it in my cheek, around my eye, forehead, chin and left side of neck( all on the left side). I feel my face has become slightly less symmetrical but no one else seems to see a change.
I have had an MRI which was normal and i have seen 4 neuros. 2 of the neuros think i have a form of trigeminal neuralgia that is uncomfortable rather than severely painful. I do not think i have tri- gem but i of course cant say for sure. This feeling is CONSTANT- the only time i do not notice it is when im asleep.
I have tried acupuncture, massage therapy, physical therapy w/ electro stim( this felt good but the feeling never went away completely) and now i have been seeing a chiropractor. I have also seen other dentists and now wear a nightgaurd every night to protect against occasional grinding/tmj.- I can open my mouth fully, no cracking etc- but apparently i do clench my jaw when sleeping.
I did try to ignore this feeling for 4 months before i tried to find treatment- I was convinced i was just sleeping on the left side of my face all night and thats why it felt like my face was always pressing against a table. Trying all these different treatments is just very expensive and nothing seems to be really resolving it. I can feel in that side of my face so there is no loss of sensation/ total numbness. I know it could be worse and i could be in constant pain but this is still feeling is still very uncomfortable.
Whats most frustrating is that i don't know whats causing it and every time i go to an MD they talk about things like MS, brain tumors, perry romberge and other terrible conditions while i think there is a good chance this may not even be neurological( i.e nerve damage?).
Anyway im considering trying thermographic imaging( for tmj, and the face?). I want to try what i can instead of ignoring this feeling. The fact that it may be permanent is very upsetting to me.
Thanks for letting me share! I hope me posting here isn't at all disrespectful to those who have severely painful conditions. I am just trying to seek knowledge and information outside the MDs office!
Hope everyone feels better soon( in a perfect world we all would!
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You said you had an MRI...so you had an MRI of your brain? Did it show and infection? Did you get a copy of the radiologists report for your own files and read it yourself? Did you ask them to burn a CD for you and look at the images on your PC at home? If you have an infection in the cavities in your cranial region maybe that could explain the pain? Were you given an antibiotic? I don't like it when a "medical professional" tells me to just "pull it out" or "cut it out", etc. Time for a second or third opinion. Unfortunately some doctors either don't know what they are doing and don't seem to care, or they are so busy they miss things. Get thee to a good University Med Ctr if you can. Another thought...could it be a cranial nerve issue, and or/a decaying of the mylein sheath that protects the nerves? Could it be a de-myelating disease of some kind? Please forgive misspellings. BTW Did you know that sugar substitutes have been reported to damage the myelin sheath around our nerves! I do not drink any diet drinks, or anything diet anymore for that reason. Encourage you to research this. Interesting that your dentist did not seem very excited about referring you to an expert???? I sometimes think that HMO's pay some physicians under the table to save them money by not providing the level of care they should be. Often we have to fight for ourselves, demand, research and all that ourselves. Hope you feel better soon.