New Findings

I have posted under Cervical Spondylosis forum in this website,

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/cervical-spondylosis-cervical-traction-301507

as I am beginning to suspect that hemifacialspasm has an etiology similar to Cervical Spondylosis.

Do read it as my twitchings are getting better, having added cervical traction to my search for the cause of HFS. There are pictures attached.

I will not be embarrassed if a total cure for the twitch is not achieved; some control over it is all I hope for .

Cheerio.

Seems lower thoracics need better support, but cure is still a long way to go.

Oh well, at least gained some control over HFS

Day 5 : After 14 lb traction, the neck muscles were a bit sore.

Day 6 : Rested the sore neck muscle; In the evening, gentle 8 lb traction with head rotations. 8 lb tension is measured with the pocket balance (pic). Also did leg lifts lying flat on the floor much like swimming. Did push-ups to squeeze shoulder blades. Simulating a dog, did head lifts to exercise back of neck muscles plus rotations. Also did “Muslim Prayer” position (Frog”).

Day 7,8 : Evening: Gentle traction again with 8 lb tension with Reebok No.3 Rubber Band (the longer band) .

*Repeated Day 6 dog and pushups. Did more shoulder blade squeezes holding the two bungees pulling down behind the back adding upward head rotations with each pull.

Day 9 : , Morning : Single Loop traction with Reebok sitting on the floor (10 lb) - 3 mins . Plus Combination of arms hanging on bar with simultaneous traction with double short loop traction 2x (13 lb) … 9 seconds 2x.

Evening: After 18 holes golf, repeated above. Eyes did not close/twitch much all through the game.

Laid the foam roll on the floor and rolled the thoracic area. Lying on the hard floor also help push thoracic forward and straighten it a bit. BP: 125/79 Pulse 80

Observation : It seems that the better the spine shape, the less the twitching. When there is less spasm, the eyebrow on the affected side drops down, to the point of having ptosis (eyelid droop in older people) but when the face is tight, the eyebrow is 5-7mm higher.

Day 10,11 : Continued the traction; 3 minutes with pulling and nodding. After checking out on the anatomy of the atlanto-axis joints (C1-C2) and using tensions varying from 10-15 lbs, I find it safe and head rotations free up the compressed joint and give mobility.

I smear Votaren cream double strength at C1-C2 at the back of the head after tractions.

Overall, I have gained better control and less twitching now. Improvement is 30%, but a big step to meeting people and making eye contact. Elevation to esteem : 45%.

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Further posts as my logs continue and fingers crossed for further improvements, guys. Cheers !

*** sorry can't find buttons for uploading pics! Will do it later when the buttons reappear.

And here are the pics. Cheerio.

Glad to know your improvement and thanks for all the pictures and info you provide. it is very encouraging. 

Although the cause of HFS is defined unknown so far, but there must be a cause and I believe it is kind related to the dislocated neck spine and aging.which cause the pressure. 

I don't know if excersise can cure the HFS completely, but for me , it definitely helped a lot.I do have a big improvent after I started excersice consistently ( 4 time a week, 1 hr zumba or Ujam every time), i have better control of it now, I can talk to people with eye contact most of the time.

I can bear it so far even it is completly gone. And wish getting better!

Cheers!

I'd like to share a picture. It shows the blood supply that runs closely to the spine. I can imagine any notching of that branch running up the spine would increase the blood pressure in the head!

Still working with traction to untwist my neck,  I find that my HFS has improved by 50% but the eye on the affected side is photophobic. It triggers blepharospasm. Smiling, blowing, even eating can cause a short-lived (not prolonged) fluttering as well, but definitely I feel that I have gained a fair amount of control of HFS.

Today I add self facial massage with various balms to test if it can stop the smile trigger.  Lets hope so. This is done while on the traction to save time. And traction on the chin side (not neck) is also easy when lying on the stomach. It stretches the sternomastoids and other muscles attached to the sternal notch/rib cage (scaleni muscles)  to further free up the spaces between the vertebrae C5-C6.  C1 and C2 is freed up when the bungee is on the occiput which I described in earlier postings.

For photophobic trigger I wear darker glasses (poloaroid) to avoid over-exposure. Even the lowest brightness setting on my desktop trigger a reaction, so soon I will have tinted reading glasses. I sometimes wonder if these triggers are cause by side-effects of Botox. Only time will tell

Thats all for now.

Using "nerve oil" similar to aromatherapy oil, I find that massaging the affected side helps. Any facial movement, talking, breathing, blowing, smiling that close the left eye (or affected side) is massaged with index and thumb for 5 to 10 minutes and I will stress that it is necessary to bring on the facial movement before stroking the areas where one can feel an abnormal sensation like as if there is "wind" inside. I massage down to the angle of the chin, and near the mastoid process behind the ear.

In a way, it is isometric stretching because one is massaging along the facial muscles or neck muscles and platysma while the muscle activity is activated.

To aid the face, alos consider full body deep tissue massage from feet up to head. A 1.5 hour massage like this cost around S$30 by Indonesian masseur.

I have stopped traction as it does not seem to help much.

Remember, alleviation of the spasms to "tolerable status" can be considered success as surgery does have complications as you can read in some of the posts by those who have undergone MVD.

See if it helps, people...Happy New Year 2015.

Kind regards.

Today I wish to continue self facial massages combined with La Jin, which I learned a few years ago but sadly did not maintain. I share with you here because I suspect HFS is due to spine compression (contraction), muscle shortening on the affected side or a twisted neck.

In doing facial massage I find the muscles of the neck formed by the trapezius, sternomastoids very tight and so I apply self massage and acupressure to provide some laxity on them to help ease the tension on the affected side of the face.

The eyebrow on the affected side is about 1cm higher when the face is twitching and level when the twitching stops. Similarly, the mouth and smile is lopsided.

The stout neck muscles near the mastoid (below the ear) are tight and painful. Try to loosen them as much as possible. If tired, seek help from a masseuse.

HFS is a complicated disease and require patience. Refrain from sitting too much and try to reverse whatever postural habits that leads to shortened muscles on the affected side. The bar plus La Jin should help all self efforts.

I don't really believe any nerves are damaged.

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Happy new year!

All your guessing are quite convincing to me. Thanks for the head up.

My HSF keep improving during the last 2 months. I went to several parties without feeling embarrased during the holidays. I'm so so happy. The only thing to trigger it is when I start to eat, but it will stop after a while. I do feel that I spasm more when I'm lack of sleep, too tired, or very hungry. 

I don't believe the nerve is damaged, but I think it has memory, and it can be trained. 

I remember I said that blowfish help me relax. Actually whenever i do it, it trigger a bad spasm just as you said, but i keep doing it, and the spasm stops after 10 or 20 seconds. I forgot from where I read that nerves does have memory and can be trained. 

4 days ago I experimented with turning the head away from the affected side in conjunction with massage. Well I now find that turning towards the affected side helped better.

Beside Rebeccamt in another discussion, I have not read others who all address the muscles in the search for the cause of HFS. Increasingly I am becoming more convinced that the cause of HFS is a twisted neck.

In the last 3 days, I have been massaging the sternomastoid and nearby muscles in a downward direction. Do check up the names of muscles online as there are many images.

Massaging helps loosen the taut muscles. The muscles of mastication (chewing) and muscles of respiration (breathing) are all in the neck in the segment C1 to C7. Any grating, cracking noises from C2 and C6 level indicates that these areas are tight and there is some abnormality in the way they are stacked. Thus causing kinks in the run-up of the vertebral artery, which in turn result in the hammering of the nerve in the skull.

That the nerve is touching the vessel in the skull is probably normal anatomy. Its the change in blood pressure with possible turbulence there.

I would not be surprised if HFS post surgery recur or even go to the opposite side if the neck twist in the opposite direction.

I think young people affected by HFS have a far better chance of recovering than older people.

Currently I am at this stage. Any followers of my thread is welcomed to post their observations. After all the world does not know the cause, so it is alright to be speculative.

Suffice to say I enjoy seeing improvements from self-efforts. I will continue to follow Janet Travell's obssession with muscle knots and treating muscles, and secondarily, the spine.