Chronic Facial Pain Tackled By Cortex Stimulation

In Canada, a treatment developed at selected medical centers successfully treats patients suffering from severe chronic facial pain.

Motor cortex stimulation a new experimental treatments, can be now used to treat a consistent or intermittent pain rather than believing on the older traditional drugs or physical therapy.

Electrodes, when placed over the skull help in relieving pain by acting on the cortex region, which serves facial nerves.

This takes place by sending electric impulses to the motor cortex region. The method proves well with half but other half does not be successful due unclear reasons.

A patient named Dafoe, who suffered from severe neuropathic pain was been successfully treated through motor cortex stimulation by Dr. Andrew, London Health Sciences.

All other methods failed to treat the Canadian patients with facial pain caused by nerve damage or stroke. But now we can treat upto 50 per cent by the new therapy – said Dr. Jerry Krcek of Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre.

Dafoe is now able to ride a bicycle and be off all her medicines. So, doctors are planning to start a follow up research on this study in order to prove its additional benefit.

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The main drawback in the implantation of a foreign device into the body, is it needs to be replaced between every 5 –10 years and also got risk of infections, battery replacement, etc.

It cures not only facial pains but also pain in the arms – researcher said.

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