PHN Pain Triggers
Posted , 18 users are following.
I have been trying to keep track of possible triggers for my pain attacks. This might be a good forum to share and for others to share anything they might have noticed caused their pain to flare up.
The pain for me is on the upper left side of my face, forehead and scalp - so a pretty exposed area. These are some of the triggers I have noticed:
Dramatic temperature changes (esp cold to hot)
High winds
Stress (obviously)
Tiredness
Getting my hair cut/washing my hair
Sustained pressure on an effected area
Bright lights or glare from sunshine
0 likes, 91 replies
michael5678 Geezee
Posted
Mine is around the left lower side of my body. Mainly following the nerve root from my spine. Everywhere that my shingles outbreak was. The following makes my pain worse. Showers, standing, resting on the side where the side opposite of where the pain is (wierd). Hydration is important. Eating too much or extended stomach will cause this. Heat is a big one (when Im in the car) my back sweats. Basically I am better off sleeping and siting. I have MS too. That what caused the outbreak.
sheila48912 michael5678
Posted
Michael and Ron, all of us that suffer from PHN have triggers or there are other things that we cannot tolerate. As stated in your post: heat, stress, too much activity, sitting too long, standing too long, clothing, belts etc. I spend the majority of my time in my bed because it is adjustable and has a massage feature, it's the only way I can get comfortable. When we tell people that this ruined our lives we are not kidding but because we don't look sick it's difficult for them to sympathize. I'm so sorry to hear about the MS Michael. Please hold on as the medical community continues to do research to solve some of these horrible conditions. I'll pray for all of us. 🙏🏼
ron96331 Geezee
Posted
I have it on the right side of the head, lesser occipital nerve. For me it's internal, meaning headaches, some itching on the scalp in that area but not much. Triggers for me are:
Stress of all kinds
Sudden loud sounds, piercing high frequency sound
Bright lights
Sustained pressure on affected area
Other than these it can just happen for no reason; deep stabbing pain in the head, lasting two or three seconds
barb03466 Geezee
Posted
I so hope you are able to get relief and I hope I can too. This is really tough stuff.
tiffany60896 Geezee
Posted
HI Geezee,
This is a good topic. I am constantly trying to determine what causes my nerve pain to get so terrible on some days/nights and not hurt hardly at all on other days/nights. I still don't know the answer for sure.
I imagine that the triggers for pain are different for all of us. But, one common trigger for most is probably severe stress. Lately, I notice that as soon as I face
some form of extreme anxiety, within a couple of hours, my nerve pain becomes almost unbearable. It takes a few days for the nerve pain to go back to a more manageble degree after I go through a stressful situation.
Also, like you, too much pressure on the affected area causes pain. Another trigger for me is If I don't sleep enough, that causes my pain to be worse. I notice that if I rest and sleep 8 hours for a couple of days in a row, my pain is a lot better. Sometimes, socializing or getting out of the house to do something fun really helps my nerve pain to almost disappear. I live alone and so I tend to focus too much on the pain so it hurts a lot of the time. But, if I force myself to do something that is actually fun, I feel better.
charlie58834 tiffany60896
Posted
Tiffany, you describe a really important way to manage pain better. Socializing or doing something fun is probably the best form of distraction, which is one of the best pain management tools. I noticed this many years ago when I had severe pain from a kidney malfunction. A friend asked me to help him with his paper route, and I figured I might as well have pain while with him rather than sitting alone at home and groaning. The task of throwing each newspaper from his truck to the right address as he called them out required a lot of concentration, plus I enjoyed being with my friend. When I got home I realized my pain bothered me again. Then I realized it had been present the whole time, but I had not paid attention to it because there were fun distractions!
It is really great that instead of sitting at home you focus on getting out and enjoying things!
babs99203 charlie58834
Posted
I joked with my husband that as long as I'm shopping (and bonding with other women) or dancing, those endorphins keep the pain away so I should do them all the time!
tiffany60896 charlie58834
Posted
Hi Charlie,
I'm glad you agree that distraction and socializing are excellent ways to ease nerve pain. Doctors should really add this method for lessening pain to their prescriptions instead of just drugs. A good example of how socializing can sometimes be the best "pill" was on my birthday. I was just going to stay home and nurse my pain, but a friend of mine called and invited me over for a surprise birthday party. I relunctanly went. I was very surprised that from 5:30 PM until 11:30 PM, at my party, I felt almost no pain at all--it was like the pain had vanished, When I got home, within about two hours, my pain was back. Now, I really am trying to focus on fun ways to distract my mind from my pain because focussing on socializing is an important way to also lessen anxiety. I have found that being alone and isolated makes pain much worse.
sheila48912 tiffany60896
Posted
Tiffany, your post serves as a reminder to all of us that are suffering the consequences of this miserable condition that socializing or any sort of activity that that distracts us minimizes the pain. Doing anything that one enjoys can make a huge difference in the quality of our lives because we don't know if this pain will ever end or doctors will discover a better way to manage it so we may as well get out there and live knowing the clock isn't going to stop for us.
babs99203 Geezee
Posted
Time of day--I do take my meds at about the same time of day every day, but it never fails, around 5:00 pm, it's the witching hour. That's the time I get more twinges.
charlie58834 babs99203
Posted
Hi Babs,
5:00 PM: Try drinking a good sized glass of water around 4:00 or so. I'm not sure why, but I've noticed that when I get a pain/itching exacerbation, and then drink a glass of water, it stops within about 30 minutes. If I don't, it just continues. So, I guess mild dehydration that I don't even notice has something to do with the pain worsening. The ability to stop the severe itching, even though it takes 1/2 hour, is really helpful. It gives me a sense of control.
brian88676 Geezee
Posted
sheila48912 brian88676
Posted
mike28505 Geezee
Posted
Sorry to jump in here randomly. I finally started to do some research and found this discussion. I am 46 and have never had an outbreak of shingles but on occasion get intermediate sharp pains and a dingling feeling on one side of my head. It is always on one side or the other and seams to happen 1X per month or every other month due to stress, sickness or I guess a weak immune system. I used to get cold sores real bad growing up. Maybe the virus moved? Does anyone else have this and is there anything I can do?
Geezee mike28505
Posted
It could be a case of Trigeminal Neuraligia if it's on one side of your face and head. The symptoms are very similar and you don't need to have had a rash to get it. Similar medications are used to treat it
sheila48912 mike28505
Posted