I went through serious confusion about peripheral versus central. I was told for years that my lingual nerve injury from an injection had progressed to central nervous system and I went through the spinal cord stimulator implant which did not work and was very umpleasant. This same doctor that did the implant did a simple lingual nerve block and it completely numbed the pain for a few hours. The doctors I have seen since say that if I had complete pain relief from the local lingual block, my injury has to still be local (in the nerve itself) and not related to my central nervous system. Have you had a local block to your injured nerve?

I am an acupuncturist as well as a person with an injured lingual nerve. The acupuncture should NOT be very painful... the points used should be both in and under the tongue as well as on the arms, hands, face, ears, etc. I'm about to start using an electromagnetic device said to heal nerves and other tissues... I'll let the board know how that works out. Acupuncture did help me alot... took the edge off the burning pain and if it comes back just get another treatment. Relief isn't instantaneous though... can take a couple of days AFTER the treatment to feel relief.

Good luck.

Bob

Make sure you see a LICENSED acupuncturist. If possible try to find one that uses Japanese needles... they are usually thinner and slightly less painful than Chinese ones. Different practitioners have different techniques, so it may be best to try someone else. Good luck.

Bob