What is facial pain?
The feeling in your face is composed by the fifth cranial nerve ( trigeminal nerve ). This nerve has three branches: to the forehead, nose and jaw.
Facial pain attacks are severe pains in the face. The pain is usually on one side of the face: the forehead, the nose and upper jaw or lip, tongue or jaw down. The pains last for seconds to minutes. Between the attacks of pain you have no pain.
Sometimes the pain shoots out a few times a day, sometimes dozens of times a day. The pain can be so strong that little else you can do more.
What are triggers for facial pain?
The pains in the face caused by stimuli that normally cause any symptoms, such as:
-Cold
-Movements of the face, such as talking, swallowing and chewing
-Touching a certain spot on the face, such as shaving
What causes facial pain?
The cause of facial pain is not clear. It is thought that the fifth nerve (trigeminal) changes its structure by the pulsation of the artery (or vein), which is adjacent to the nerve. The nerve fibers are more sensitive to normal stimuli, and give an extreme reaction, namely the twinges.
In people with MS (multiple sclerosis) can also exist by affecting the nerve facial pain
Sometimes jaw sinusitis facial pain can give.
How is facial pain diagnosed?
Often the GP or neurologist at pains in the face thinking of facial pain. Occasionally, additional research is needed. This may be an x-ray of the head, a CT scan or an MRI.
What can you do with facial pain yourself?
Protect your face from the cold with a tie or scarf.
Try not to touch the sensitive spot in your face.
What is the treatment of facial pain?
Facial pain can be treated with medication. Usually, carbamazepine is prescribed. This is an agent that inhibits the transmission of impulses to the nerve. For mild facial pain helps well.
If drugs work enough, surgery can be done by a neurosurgeon are a possibility. This is the microvascular decompression operation (MVD) according to Jannetta. Here, the artery (or vein), which abuts against the nerve, disconnected, and there is a small piece of plastic placed between.
Sometimes surgery is not possible, such as age or health. Then, the facial nerve can be deactivated in a different way: (to be done in the first branch only) by cutting the nerve branch, or by damaging the nerve. This is possible with heat, flow, high pressure, the injection of medicines or by X-ray radiation.
The possible side effect is that the feeling in a part of the face is less. The pains can come back after a few months to two years. The treatment can be repeated once more.
The feeling in your face is composed by the fifth cranial nerve ( trigeminal nerve ). This nerve has three branches: to the forehead, nose and jaw.
Facial pain attacks are severe pains in the face. The pain is usually on one side of the face: the forehead, the nose and upper jaw or lip, tongue or jaw down. The pains last for seconds to minutes. Between the attacks of pain you have no pain.
Sometimes the pain shoots out a few times a day, sometimes dozens of times a day. The pain can be so strong that little else you can do more.
What are triggers for facial pain?
The pains in the face caused by stimuli that normally cause any symptoms, such as:
-Cold
-Movements of the face, such as talking, swallowing and chewing
-Touching a certain spot on the face, such as shaving
What causes facial pain?
The cause of facial pain is not clear. It is thought that the fifth nerve (trigeminal) changes its structure by the pulsation of the artery (or vein), which is adjacent to the nerve. The nerve fibers are more sensitive to normal stimuli, and give an extreme reaction, namely the twinges.
In people with MS (multiple sclerosis) can also exist by affecting the nerve facial pain
Sometimes jaw sinusitis facial pain can give.
How is facial pain diagnosed?
Often the GP or neurologist at pains in the face thinking of facial pain. Occasionally, additional research is needed. This may be an x-ray of the head, a CT scan or an MRI.
What can you do with facial pain yourself?
Protect your face from the cold with a tie or scarf.
Try not to touch the sensitive spot in your face.
What is the treatment of facial pain?
Facial pain can be treated with medication. Usually, carbamazepine is prescribed. This is an agent that inhibits the transmission of impulses to the nerve. For mild facial pain helps well.
If drugs work enough, surgery can be done by a neurosurgeon are a possibility. This is the microvascular decompression operation (MVD) according to Jannetta. Here, the artery (or vein), which abuts against the nerve, disconnected, and there is a small piece of plastic placed between.
Sometimes surgery is not possible, such as age or health. Then, the facial nerve can be deactivated in a different way: (to be done in the first branch only) by cutting the nerve branch, or by damaging the nerve. This is possible with heat, flow, high pressure, the injection of medicines or by X-ray radiation.
The possible side effect is that the feeling in a part of the face is less. The pains can come back after a few months to two years. The treatment can be repeated once more.