Hemifacial Spasm

[livingwith]

devloped this condition at about 70 years of age … I am now 80….I have accepted this malady but wish instead of Botox which I have in the way of injections every 3 to 4 months there were another form of treatment. The injections are a bit painful and oral medication was tried but didn’t really cut it for me…I felt a bit lathargic and doped up…My eye surgeon does the injecting and I feel there has to be a better way…I wish someone would come up with something ...Read the full article

[helens]

how the doctor inject the botox makes a difference - how much each spot and where on the face. every injection has a different result. i have to very specifically told my doctor the center of my face is very vital, doesn't care that it droups because the twreet hurts more than the droup. it is exhausting to twrit all day long.

[NHPackerfan]

Hi, MAM,

I am sorry you have had to deal w/ this so late in life. There IS an alternative to Botox, it's a surgical proceedure (microvascular decompression, MVD) that lifts the blood vessel away from the nerve and pads it w/ Teflon to keep the vessel from compressing the nerve and causing spasms.

The surgery is not common, but it's also done for trigeminal neuralgia. It should be done by a skull base or cerebrovascular surgeon who is experienced in the proceedure and who works in a large volume medical center where they can monitor the facial and hearing nerves. It is not a proceedure for your local, general neurosurgeon.

Good luck!