About four years ago, I was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) on my right side of
the face. As TN is not a common disease, as usual I was misdiagnosed and wasted lot of
time in attending a variety of physicians and dentists. I have also educated myself on this
disease and lost hope and depressed due to lack of good treatments. The two most
common remedies are medication, and surgery. Trileptal medication helped me to
tolerate the pain and shocks, however it made me drowsy. Finally, I opted for “Gamma
Knife Surgery” and it helped me in reducing shocks; however there was no relief on my
pain. I still have to continue medication and live with occasional shocks. After this
surgery, I still needed 600 mg of Trileptal everyday. Reduction in medication dosage or
interrupting the medication also resumed shocks and severe pain.
I was in pursuit of a permanent cure which does not involve another surgery or more dosage of medication. I found that there are more TN patients in China and they have herbal treatment for this disorder. I visited China, stayed there for one week in a hospital,
went through the treatment, and continued with their herbal medication for one year. It
initially helped me for few weeks and after that, the shocks and pain returned back. I
tried acupuncture treatment for six months that resulted in no improvement other than a temporary relief during the acupuncture time. I was promised a cure by a homeopathic
doctor in India and tried that medicine for 6 months without any improvement. My hopes
were also raised very high by an Ayurvedic doctor, where I used numerous medicines for
one year without any success. In addition to the above explorations, I have also tried many home remedies which are useless and waste of time and efforts.
Finally, I found a magic bullet that is giving hope to many medical problems that have no
cure in modern medicine. I was introduced by my close friend to “Pranayam” which is
part of Yoga and cures many diseases. A single person named “Swami Ramdevji” in
India has taken a daunting challenge to cure all sorts of diseases with “Pranayam” and
millions of people have already tried this and cured from many diseases such as diabetes,
blood pressure, obesity, heart problems, asthma, cancer, and more. Initially, I was very
reluctant and pessimistic about this as I have tried so many treatments without any
success. I started doing “Pranayam” with great interest and dedication and after 6 months
I have noticed improvement in my medical condition. I have stopped my medication
completely since last two months and my pain has reduced by 90%, and there are no
shocks.
I recently attended a camp for Yoga in New Jersey taught by “Swami Ramdevji” and I
witnessed so many other patients with chronic diseases who have been cured by
practicing “Pranayam”. Now, I am convinced more than ever that my pain will be gone
100% if I continue my “Pranayam”.
The “Pranayam” is a breathing exercises and it requires very little training and costs
nothing. It has absolutely no side effects. It is also a holistic approach, where it cures and
prevents other diseases. One can learn these exercises on their own or take initial help
from an expert, or get a DVD from www.divyayoga.com and practice it. Don’t give up
on it until you actually learn the correct way to do it. Basically three breathing exercises:
Bashrika, Kapalbathi, and Anulom Vilom helped me to get rid off my medication. First
2 one you do it for a maximum of 5 minutes, the second one for 20-30 minutes and the last
one for 20 minutes.
Initially you may only do for few minutes as you may not know how to do it correctly.
By watching the Swami and practicing it may be the best thing to do. I had trouble
learning the “Pranayam” for almost 3 months and I finally got it to do it the right way.
Once you do it correctly for few months, you should see improvements in your
conditions. After a while, you enjoy it, and love it.
You must do the “Pranayam” everyday for one hour in the morning after you take shower
and without eating or drinking any liquids. It can also be done in the evening provided
you have not eaten 5 hours before the exercise.
I would like to urge all TN patients to try and a give it a chance to work for you. You
have to be patient, believe in it, and do it on a regular basis daily. If you want to learn
more about this type of Yoga, your local YMCA and other organizations also provide
lessons and other material. However, for TN, “Pranayam” is more effective than other
physical exercises of Yoga called “Asanas”. Once you become more familiar with the
above breathing exercises, you can also do other exercises to improve your health. I wish
all TN patients success in their efforts of trying “Pranayam” and ultimately curing their
disease in addition to improving their overall health.
Ramesh can be reached at: rkarne@towson.edu
Updated 7-23-07
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