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Trigeminal Neuralgia - Trigeminal Neuralgia symptom, treatment, causes

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a kind of Pain along a nerve and in the area it supplies as a result of irritation of or injury to the nerve, but without any associated disorder of movement or sensation, Trigeminal Neuralgia often occurs in recurrent bouts of severe, stabbing pain that may be felt shooting along the course of the nerve. Trigeminal Neuralgia may be a feature of specific disorders.

Trigeminal neuralgia affects the trigeminal nerve, one of the largest nerves in the head. TN is primarily known for the intense level of pain it causes. It is the trigeminal nerve that provides sensation in your face, detecting touch, pain, temperature and pressure sensations in the area between your jaw and forehead, including your lips and gums. The disorder is more common in women than in men and rarely affects anyone younger than 50. but cases are known in children and even infants. Something as simple and routine as brushing the teeth, putting on makeup or even a slight breeze can trigger an attack, resulting in sheer agony for the  individual. Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is not fatal, but it is universally considered to be the most painful affliction known to medical practice. Initial treatment of TN is usually by means of anti-convulsant drugs, such as Tegretol or Neurontin.  Some anti-depressant drugs also have significant pain relieving effects. Should medication be ineffective or if it produces undesirable side effects, neurosurgical procedures are available to relieve pressure on the nerve or to reduce nerve sensitivity. Some patients report having reduced or relieved pain by means of alternative medical therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic adjustment, self-hypnosis or meditation.

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), also called tic douloureux , is a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal or 5th cranial nerve, one of the largest nerves in the head. Trigeminal neuralgia is considered by many to be among the most painful of conditions and has been labeled the suicide disease , due to the significant numbers of people taking their own lives because they were unable to have their pain controlled with medications or surgery. An estimated one in 15,000 people suffers from trigeminal neuralgia, although numbers may be significantly higher due to frequent misdiagnosis.

Types of Neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia may occasionally occur in an area that has been affected by SHINGLES, causing bouts of shooting or burning pain that may last for months or even years after the rash has faded.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

Trigeminal (facial) neuralgia (also known as tic douloureux) is characterised by spasms of severe stabbing pain on one side of the face, often provoked by touching 'trigger zones' on the face or by facial movements such as chewing, speaking and yawning. Brushing the hair, cleaning, the, teeth shaving may become impossible if these activities trigger attaks. There may be intervals of months or years between bouts of trigeminal neuralgia but, as time goes, on intervals may become shorter. Most patients are over 40 when the first attack occurs. Usually there, is no dis coverable cause, but because the condition may occasionally be associated with a benign tumour of the meninges (membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord) or the sheath of the facial nerve, or with enlarged blood vessels pressing on the nerve, CAT scanning is advised, so that these conditions can be. corrected if found.

Glossopharyngeal neuralgia is less common than trigeminal. and causes similar spasms of pain in the throat, back of the tongue and middle ear. Treatment of nelualgia with the drug carbamazepine (which reduces nerve excitability) lessens the frequency, severity and duration of attacks in most cases. A variety of other nerve sedatives and pain-killing drugs may also be used.

Causes of Trigeminal Neuralgia

The common Causes of Trigeminal Neuralgia :

• Strees.
• Genetic tendency.
• Tumar and multiple sclerosis are some of the rare causes of TN.

Symptoms of Trigeminal Neuralgia

Some common Symptoms of Trigeminal Neuralgia :

• Pain is triggered by touch or sounds.
• Very painful, sharp electric-like spasms last a few seconds to minutes.
• Pain during chewing, eating, drinking, shaving, or brushing teeth.

Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia

• Tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline, or carbamazepine .
• Anti-epilepsy drugs.
• Migraine medicines (sumatriptan).