Patient education: Trigeminal neuralgia (The Basics)

What is trigeminal neuralgia? — Trigeminal neuralgia ("TN") is a condition that causes sudden and severe pain in parts of the face.

TN is caused by a problem with the trigeminal nerve, which is a nerve that runs from the brain to the face.

What are the symptoms of TN? — TN causes attacks of sharp and stabbing pain in the cheek, lower face, or around the eye. The pain lasts a few seconds to a few minutes, and usually happens on only 1 side of the face. The attacks can happen over and over again.

Often, certain movements or activities make the pain attacks happen. These can include:

●Touching the face

●Chewing

●Talking

●Brushing the teeth

●Smiling or frowning

●Cold air on the face

TN can also cause muscle spasms in the face, along with pain.

Will I need tests? — Maybe. Your doctor or nurse should be able to tell if you have TN by learning about your symptoms and doing an exam.

They might do tests to learn more about your TN or what's causing it. These tests can include an MRI or CT scan of your brain. These are imaging tests that create pictures of your brain.

How is TN treated? — TN is usually treated with medicine. Doctors use different types of medicines to treat TN. Most often, doctors prescribe a type of medicine normally used to prevent seizures. The most used medicine is called carbamazepine (sample brand names: Carbatrol, Tegretol). There are several others, too. These medicines quiet the nerve signals that cause pain in TN.

For most people, the medicine helps reduce the number of TN attacks they have and makes their pain less severe. But if medicines don't help enough or cause too many side effects, your doctor might talk with you about other treatment options. These include different types of surgical procedures that quiet the nerve and make it less likely to fire. These surgical treatments might help with symptoms, but side effects sometimes happen, including numbness or pain in the face.