Brain & Nervous System
Neuralgia
Sudden, shooting nerve pain along the course of a nerve, followed by pain-free intervals. Caused by nerve irritation from chilling, nutritional deficiencies, trauma, diabetes, shingles, or dental disease. Hot-and-cold hydrotherapy, B vitamins, calcium, and nerve-soothing herbs are the main treatments.
📝 Summary
In short: Sudden, shooting nerve pain along the course of a nerve, followed by pain-free intervals. Caused by nerve irritation from chilling, nutritional deficiencies, trauma, diabetes, shingles, or dental disease. Hot-and-cold hydrotherapy, B vitamins, calcium, and nerve-soothing herbs are the main treatments.
Common causes: Prolonged chilling draft on part of the body (face, shoulder, neck) while rest is warm -- a frequently overlooked cause; Nutritional deficiencies (B complex, especially B1, B6, B12, folic acid, pantothenic acid); Herpes/shingles (post-herpetic neuralgia).
First thing to try: Identify and eliminate the cause.
See a doctor if: See a doctor if symptoms are severe, persistent, or worsening, or if you are unsure — natural supports are meant to complement, not replace, professional care.
🌿 Overview
Neuralgia is nerve pain -- sudden, severe, shooting pain along the course of an affected nerve, with intervals of freedom between attacks. In severe cases there is twitching of muscles, burning and tingling in the skin. Attacks tend to become more severe over time. A frequent, under-recognized cause is prolonged chilling of one part of the body while the rest is warm (e.g., a cold draft on the face during sleep, or a slightly open car window during a daily commute over many months). Other causes include nutritional deficiencies (especially B complex, B1, B6, B12, folic acid, pantothenic acid), herpes/shingles, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, alcoholism, decayed teeth, constipation, fatigue, and sinus infections.
Common signs
- Sudden, severe, shooting pain along the course of a nerve
- Pain-free intervals between attacks
- Nerve trunks tender to pressure
- Burning and tingling in the skin of the affected area
- Twitching of muscles in the affected area in severe cases
- Attacks generally continue from minutes to a few days and recur over months
🔎 Why it happens
Common causes and triggers — spotting yours is often the first step to relief.
- Prolonged chilling draft on part of the body (face, shoulder, neck) while rest is warm -- a frequently overlooked cause
- Nutritional deficiencies (B complex, especially B1, B6, B12, folic acid, pantothenic acid)
- Herpes/shingles (post-herpetic neuralgia)
- Diabetes (diabetic neuropathy)
- Dental disease (especially decayed teeth) causing facial neuralgia
- Trauma, multiple sclerosis, or alcoholism
- Constipation, fatigue, insomnia, and chronic tension
✅ What to do
Gentle, practical steps you can take at home — start at the top.
- Identify and eliminate the cause.
- Examine your sleeping environment for cold drafts -- keep the neck, face, and shoulders covered at night.
- Apply alternate hot and cold to the painful area (the cold should be very brief).
- Use fomentations wrung out of mullein, lobelia, or chamomile teaA warm drink made by steeping herbs in hot water. How to make a tea → over the area.
- Place the hand and arm on the opposite side of the body from where the pain is in very hot water for 20 minutes (this draws blood away from the inflamed area).
- Ensure diet includes lecithin (1 tsp.), calcium (1,000 mg), and magnesium (500 mg).
- Get adequate sunshine, fresh air, and exercise.
- Capsaicin cream (from cayenne) applied to the painful area: stimulates then blocks small-diameter pain fibers -- well-supported by research.
- Ginkgo biloba significantly decreases pain and sensitivity.
- Bilberry extract (160-480 mg daily) has nerve-soothing flavonoid compounds.
- Helpful herbs: mullein, sage, hops, plantain, valerian root, skullcap, nettle, lobelia, black cohosh.
⭐ Community-ranked natural supports
Vote ▲ on everything that helped you, and ▼ on anything you tried that didn't — the ranking updates live. Tap 💬 to share what worked, so others can find it faster.
Deep, regular sleep is when the body repairs itself and the immune system does its best work.97375
Fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains keep digestion regular and feed healthy gut bacteria.93254
A cool, damp cloth or covered ice pack that calms swelling, itching, and throbbing.93211
Crowd feedback, not medical advice — in this preview your vote is saved on your device. *Ties are broken by our editor score (sources, safety, simplicity, cost, lifestyle fit).
📊 Compare these remedies side by side
Our editor score weighs sources, safety, simplicity, cost, and lifestyle fit. Source endorsements tally how many books and studies reference each remedy. A higher number isn't a promise — it's just a starting point.
| Remedy | Type | Editor score | Source endorsements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rest & Sleep | Practice | 97 | 375 |
| High-Fiber Whole Foods | Food | 93 | 254 |
| Cold Compress | Therapy | 93 | 211 |
| Warm & Cold Compress | Therapy | 88 | 198 |
| Cayenne Pepper | Herb | 68 | 109 |
🍽️ Eating to help
Food is one of the gentlest medicines — small, steady changes help most.
Nourishing whole-food diet rich in B vitamins (nutritional yeast, whole grains, legumes). Adequate protein, calcium (1,000 mg), magnesium (500 mg), and lecithin. Avoid refined food, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco.
⚖️ Good to know
- Trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux) can be severe and disabling -- if natural approaches fail, medical evaluation and treatment are appropriate.
- Neuralgia with numbness in hands or legs requires physician evaluation to rule out serious nerve compression or systemic disease.
- Shingles (herpes zoster) neuralgia may require antiviral treatment in early stages.
🩺 When to see a doctor
- See a doctor if symptoms are severe, persistent, or worsening, or if you are unsure — natural supports are meant to complement, not replace, professional care.
📜 A note from history
J.H. Kellogg prescribed: for pain -- fomentation or revulsive compress to seat of pain; ice bag effective when skin is red and throbbing; for toxemia -- sweating bath followed by cold bath 3x/week; for neuralgia of the head -- hot sitz bath, hot leg bath, and fomentation to abdomen twice daily.
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