Recenti progressi in medicina
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Occipital neuralgia is characterized by pain paroxysm occurring within distribution of the greater or lesser occipital nerves. The pain may radiates from the rear head toward the ipso-lateral frontal or retro-orbital regions of head. Though known causes include head injuries, direct occipital nerve trauma, neuroma formation or upper cervical root compression, most people have no demonstrable lesion. ⋯ Our experience demonstrates a sound efficacy of such a technique for patients having occipital neuralgia resistant to pharmacological therapies even if action mechanisms have not yet clearly explained. Some hypothesis exist and we think it might negatively affect the neurogenic inflammation that surely acts in pain maintaining.
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Bruxism is a para-function with tooth clenching and grinding. Particularly, the sleep bruxism is a frequent phenomenon that causes cephalalgia and muscular/joint pains to the awakening, besides an increased dental abrasion and sensibility. The etiology of sleep bruxism is uncertain: while the occlusal discrepancies and the anatomy of the bony structures of the orofacial region play only a minor role, others factors, like smoking, alcohol, drugs, systemic diseases, stress, trauma and heredity, appear to have an important role in the sleep bruxism genesis. ⋯ Besides the sleep bruxism appears to be an disturbance in the dopaminergic system. Further psychological factors (like stress, anxiety) are implicated in the aetiology of sleep bruxism as well. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the aetiology of bruxism.