Trigeminal neuralgia (facial nerve pain)

Face | Neurology | Trigeminal neuralgia (facial nerve pain) (Disease)


Description

Trigeminal neuralgia, the most common of all neuralgia, is characterized by severe pain, sharp, like electric shock, located at half a face. Pain is often triggered by talking, chewing or brushing. Trigeminal neuralgia called painful tic is recurrent pain on one side of the face. Pain, resulting in damage to one or more of the three branches of the trigeminal nerve, can be described as a sensation of painful cuts, occurring a region of the face.

An attack can last from seconds to minutes. Intensity can cause muscle contraction, hence the name of painful tic. Episodes can be repeated over a period of days, weeks or months. The disease occurs more frequently in those over 50 years and often in those 70 years. Women are 3 times more likely to produce trigeminal neuralgia than men. For reasons unknown, the disease occurs more frequently on the right side of the face than on the left and does not appear simultaneously in the two parts.

Causes and Risk factors

The pain is associated trigeminal neuralgia is caused by a dysfunction of the trigeminal nerve, which sends the sensory perceptions of the face to the brain. However, the exact cause is unknown disorder. In many cases, compression or twisting a part of the trigeminal nerve by a blood vessel was associated with trigeminal neuralgia. Less commonly, a tumor pressing on the nerve sheath may trigger pain. These painful attacks can be spontaneous, but can be caused by a slight stimulation of the facial region, during brushing teeth, shaving or make-up. Pain may be confined to a small limited area of the face or quickly radiate in a wider area, but always is limited to appropriate areas. Although the nerve pain can cause functional disability, disease is not life threatening. The attacks come and go randomly, periods of remission may be short over the years.

Diagnosis and Treatment

The disease can be treated effectively with medication or other therapeutic techniques. ...