TN caused by Galvanic Spa use
 

Hi! I'm new here, and wonder if anyone has experienced trigeminal nerve pain after using the Nuskin Galvanic Spa? This happened to me a year ago, and my neurologist and I think it might have been caused by galvanic shock...an electrical current travelling from the handheld device, through my skin, and between the numerous silver fillings and crowns on the left side of my mouth. This apparently "zapped" the trigeminal nerve, causing numbness and pain in my face, scalp, eye and ear. I'd love to hear from anyone who had experienced the same problem. Thank you!

TN Caused by Galvanic Spa
 

I saw your question posed on several sites and it looks like you have not received any satisfactory answers yet. I'm very curious about whether or not what happened to you was caused by this device. I wanted to get one but after reading your concern I'm not so sure I want to now as I already have several crowns of which I know one has a metal post. If anyone were to get zapped from anything, it would be me. That's why I'm afraid to use this device now. I'm the one that touches the metal frame on a door when entering a store and I'll get zapped. Get out of the car and accidentally touch the metal frame on the outside of the car and get zapped.

My only question to you is - did you use the device with a wet hand as instructed? Wonder if that makes a difference.

Left a strange taste in my mouth.
 

I left a demo last night and found that when I went over my face near a filling it left a metallic taste in my mouth. I only used it once, but your post has got me a bit nervous about using it again.

Nuskin Galvanic Spa and Trigeminal Neuralgia
 

Thank you both for responding to my inquiry about the Nuskin Galvanic Spa. It's been a year and a half since my adverse reaction, and the condition and symptoms come and go sporadically. I used the Galvanic Spa as instructed, and do not have any of the contraindications listed in the booklet. The mention of "metal braces on the teeth" got me to thinking that maybe my excessive fillings and crowns on the left side of my mouth caused a galvanic shock that in turn "zapped" the trigeminal nerve.

If you want to read the full account of my experience I have it posted on this dental website: **
Also, I've been communicating with a couple of women on another site:
**
The letter from "loveredrose" (although written in broken English) is very scarey because her daughter continued to use the Spa for several minutes even after getting "shocked." Nuskin told the mother it was an allergic reaction, but I don't know of any allergic reaction that would cause those symptoms.

I'd like to hear more about experiences anyone else has had, and how Nuskin has responded to them. Thanks for your support! Judy

Berry1 and dingojen... The websites mentioned in my last post have been omitted by the moderator, so I've sent them to each of you in a separate message. I hope you get them! Judy

Galvanic Spa
 

Dear Paintrlady, I don't normally post on blogs so hope I'm doing this right. Last month I was able to have a demo done with the Nu Skin galvanic spa. I had mineral makeup on and think I didn't wash it off thoroughly before the treatment and I think something in the mineral makeup reacted with the galvanic spa and heard little noises like the kind when a bug gets zapped in one of those outdoor bug zappers. I also felt a little stinging to the skin afterwards. Anyways, I did end up buying one and I make sure my face is really clean before treatment. I also make sure I take off all metal jewelry when I do the treatment. So far I have not been zapped and like I said I always get zapped very easily. Today I was holding a piece of paper and my co-worker touched the paper and I got zapped.

I love my galvanic spa and relieved to know I didn't have to experience what you went through.

My advice to anyone considering buying one is make sure you have a demo done on you first and the instance you feel any adverse reactions, stop the treatment immediately and don't buy it.

I'm glad that you warn people what to look out for. It made me very cautious and I knew if I felt something really bad that I would stop the treatment right away. :winky:

galvanic side effects from "SHOCK"
 

I have used the galvanic spa 5 times...and I had an electrical shock on my right temple area.. I stopped on it for a second..OUCH...freaked me out... i had like an ache on that area... the next day my whole right side of my skull ached..and slight tingling sensation ...not painful.. but noticeable on the back right side of my head.. it i snoght time and it feels achy and slight head ache annoyed, hoping I dint do some damage to my brain uuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhh... I DON'T HAVE ANY MEDAL FILLINGS EITHER i did have my wedding band on but not on the side where i was holding the device.... ANOTHER THING TOO.. why is it that one side of my face has better results ...anyone have the same problem even after 5 treatments?????????

I have shock in my temple area and it hurt i have right side skull ache..and i am on my 2 nd day and it aches and have had slight tingking... but i have NO medal fillings just a wedding band on the oppsite hand of which i used the machine with.... i bite down and fell the irritation on the right side of my face and skull hmmmmmmmmmmmm. i was given info to report it tomoorow is monday and I am on it!!!!!!!!!! but for now I will stay away from the temple area for sure...and do you know why one side of my face looks better than the other side and they both have been treated the same...????????

NuSkin Galvanic Spa - Causes Headaches?
 

Hi - I'm new here too. I wanted to reply to this thread because I just got a NuSkin Galvanic Spa - and have been using it for about 2 weeks now. I've been getting headaches now - not sure why. I do get an occasional headache now and then, so I wasn't concerned much, except I'm getting them several times a week now. It just occurred to me I started getting them every time after I used the NuSkin Galvanic Spa. Is anyone else having problems with the NuSkin Galvanic Spa?

I think the bigger problem here is that there are many things that can cause TN an we really don't know all of them.

Mine is viral based and I had definitive proof,,so how can you tell what will set it off and what won't?? What started mine was using an over the counter tooth whitening system that you put the gel in and then wore a plastic tray to keep it on....now it has been a decade but to this day if I use a toothpaste that has a tooth whitener in it my TN flares up terribly.....

So again the real issue is finding out the real causes of this dreadful disorder and finding some real cures,,,,

My hopes go out to all of you

Fda
 

I have been looking into buying one of these but concerned, there are several Adverse Event's reported to the FDA on this product, I would highly recommend letting the FDA know if something like this happened to you!

I am a day off of purchasing a Galvanic Spa ! Now you got me worried. i have only a little money for a investment in a good facial equipment tool for my home facial spa treatments. Is it better to rather choose something such as the LuXury vibrator and Artistry anti aging products ( Thats the purpose of it all, to work the product for better absorbtion isnt it ?)Please girls I need you to help me out here!

100 years of this!
 

A better word for “Galvanic current” is “direct current” or DC (i.e., the current from a regular battery). Luigi Galvani discovered DC current in the 1700s!

Since then, people have fiddled with DC for literally hundreds of years. By the 1920s the use of DC was widespread … EXACTLY like these little “Galvanic Spa” devices. I designed one 30 years ago for a company in Nevada. There is NOTHING to these devices: just battery current (DC).

To date (more than 100 years) there has been no confirmed actual damage from these devices. Frankly, they don’t do anything beneficial either. Indeed, the “negative” pole will irritate your skin, cause blood and fluid to enter the tissues … and “plump up” your skin. But this is temporary.

The “metal taste” people talk about has nothing to do with your fillings. Don’t believe me? Try this: take an AA-battery. Wet your finger and hold it on one side (either pole, it doesn’t matter). Now, touch the other end to your tongue … WOW a metallic taste!

What’s happening here is the DC current is stimulating your taste buds … the metallic taste is just what happens. If you REALLY want to “freak yourself out,” try the following. With your little “Spa device,” put the thing at the outside corner of your eye … then rapidly place it “one and off” your skin. You will see a little flash of light! Again, the optic nerve is being stimulated because, actually, the human body “runs” on DC. There is NO HARM to this whatsoever.

All of the symptoms that are being discussed here have been noted for more than 100 years; they are of NO CONSEQUENCE. Furthermore, nothing is NEW about these devices AT ALL: they have been used for more than 100 years. They don’t do much of anything either.

If I may add another comment to my post. When I lived in Europe (1980s) and worked for a Dutch and German firm (cosmetic devices), the German “Stiftung Warentest” examined galvanic DC devices that were, at the time, widely used by European estheticians.

The claim was that “products would be ‘pushed’ deeper into the skin, thus making such products more effective.” The study found that, indeed, cosmetic preparations did penetrate more deeply into the skin … HOWEVER; trace amounts of chemicals from these preparations were FOUND IN THE BLOOD! Because of the blood-test findings, these DC devices were banned in Germany. I do not know the current status of such devices in Europe or Germany. They were (and are) ubiquitous.

I think a much more important issues here is just exactly WHAT is in those “cosmetic preparations” … and what (if anything) is entering your blood? I think that’s a much greater (long-term) concern. (BTW, you can get excellent results using only baking soda and the negative pole: to soften blackheads.)
** Oh, and “being protected by the FDA?” From my point of view, there is no FDA any more!

I have absolutely no involvement with any manufacturer or cosmetic product. (“DC” in my name, is the current; I’m NOT a chiropractor!) My take is that these little devices are designed to sell cosmetic products … and, that’s where the real money is made!

I hope I have been helpful!

in my professional opinion
 

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.