How To Repair Myelin Sheath Damage In Sinus And Eyes

Trigeminal Neuralgia

What Is Trigeminal Neuralgia?

Trigeminal neuralgia is an ongoing pain condition that affects sure nerves in your face. You might too hear it chosen "tic douloureux."

People who have this condition say the pain might feel like an electric shock, and it can sometimes be intense.

Doctors have treatments that tin help, including medicine and surgery.

Mapping the Nerves in Your Face

To learn about trigeminal neuralgia, it helps to know a footling about how the affected nerves are laid out.

In your head, you have 12 pairs of what are called cranial nerves. The trigeminal nerves are among these pairs, and they let you feel sensations in your face. One nervus runs downwardly each side of your caput.

Each trigeminal nerve splits into three branches, controlling the feeling for different parts of your confront. They are:

The ophthalmic branch. It controls your eye, upper eyelid, and forehead.
The maxillary branch. This affects your lower eyelid, cheek, nostril, upper lip, and upper mucilage.
The mandibular branch. It runs your jaw, lower lip, lower gum, and some muscles you lot employ for chewing.

The disorder tin impact any of the three nervus branches, meaning you could experience hurting from your forehead to your jaw. Usually, y'all'll feel pain on only one side of your face. Some people experience it on both sides. When that happens, it's chosen bilateral trigeminal neuralgia.

Trigeminal Neuralgia Symptoms

You lot may feel every bit though your pain came out of nowhere. Some people with this condition start out thinking they have an abscessed molar and become to a dentist.

For people who have what'due south called "atypical" trigeminal neuralgia, known as type 2, the pain is unremarkably less intense, simply abiding.

Doctors consider sudden and intense bouts of pain to exist signs of "classic" trigeminal neuralgia. If your pain is more of an agonized, burning sensation, you might take the atypical course.

Common symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia may include:

Cursory periods of stabbing or shooting hurting.
Pain triggered by things such equally brushing your teeth, washing your face, shaving, or putting on makeup. Even a light breeze against your face up might set off your pain.
Y'all may feel it coming on, as burning or achiness, before it becomes very painful.
Episodes last a few seconds to several minutes.
The attacks happen several times a twenty-four hours or a week, followed by periods during which y'all have none at all. These hurting-free periods are known as remission.
Hurting usually affects only i side of the face.
Pain may affect just one part of your face or spread to a wider area.
Episodes happen more often over time, and the hurting tin worsen.
Yous feel the hurting by and large in your cheek, jaw, teeth, gums, and lips. The eyes and forehead are afflicted less often.
After an assault, your face may twitch uncontrollably.

Some people with this status also have anxiety because they are uncertain when the pain will return.

Trigeminal Neuralgia Triggers

Any number of things may cause trigeminal neuralgia pain, such as:

Gently touching your face
Shaving
Washing your confront
Brushing your teeth
Applying makeup
Blowing your nose
Eating or drinking, especially hot or common cold foods or drinks
Talking
Grin
Having wind or a cakewalk blow at you

Trigeminal Neuralgia Causes and Risk Factors

This starts with irritation of the trigeminal nerve. Yous might have a blood vessel pressing on the nerve, dissentious the protective coating around it, which is chosen the myelin sheath.

Certain diseases, such equally multiple sclerosis, also tin can hurt the myelin sheath. Sometimes a tumor or a tangle of arteries presses on the nerve.

Your trigeminal nerve can too be injured -- maybe past surgery, an accident, or a stroke.

Some people are more likely to get trigeminal neuralgia than others:
Women are more likely than men to get trigeminal neuralgia.
The disease is more common in people older than 50.
The disorder may run in families, perhaps because of how blood vessels are formed in the brain.
It may besides be linked to loftier claret force per unit area.

Although the pain can be intense, the status is not life-threatening. It tin can be a progressive illness, though, meaning that it gets worse over time.

Trigeminal Neuralgia Diagnosis

If you have facial hurting -- especially sensations that go along coming back or don't respond to over-the-counter pain relievers -- make an appointment with your doctor.

Exist prepare to tell your dr. well-nigh how your pain starting time appeared, how oftentimes you lot feel it, and what seems to trigger it.

Expect your dr. to ask lots of questions most your status. You may too have a neurological exam, in which your doctor touches various parts of your face up. They tin can examination your reflexes to figure out whether a nerve is compressed.

An imaging test such as an MRI tin can evidence if a tumor or multiple sclerosis is an underlying cause of your trouble.

Trigeminal Neuralgia Treatments

Treatment for this status may include medication and surgery.

Medication: Typical pain medications don't work well for people with trigeminal neuralgia, but your medico may prescribe different types of drugs:

To keep the nerves from reacting to irritation, y'all may take anticonvulsant medications.
You lot also may take muscle relaxants -- alone or forth with anticonvulsants.
Your doctor may suggest a tricyclic antidepressant to manage your symptoms.
Some research suggests that Botox shots may be helpful when other medication doesn't relieve trigeminal neuralgia pain. More research is needed before doctors can prescribe this widely.

Surgery: Over time, your medication may assist you less and less. If that happens, you have several surgical options.

Some of these procedures are outpatient, meaning you don't accept to exist admitted to a hospital. For some, you'll need general anesthesia, which means you won't be awake during the surgery.

Your doctor tin help you make up one's mind which surgery is right for y'all, based on your overall wellness, which nerves are involved, and your preferences.

Procedures to treat trigeminal neuralgia include:

Gamma knife radiosurgery, which uses radiation focused on your trigeminal nerve.
Balloon pinch, in which doctors thread an empty balloon into a infinite between the trigeminal nervus and the base of the skull. When the balloon is inflated, the nerve is pressed against difficult bone, damaging the insulation to the nerve, so that you don't perceive pain from light touches.
Glycerol shot, which is injected into the spinal fluid surrounding the trigeminal nervus at the base of the skull. This injures the insulation around the nervus, which relieves pain.
Radiofrequency ablation, in which doctors and patients pinpoint the exact area inside the trigeminal nerve causing excessive pain. And then the doctor tin can transport electric current to the spot to dull the sensation.
Microvascular decompression, which moves or takes out blood vessels that are affecting the nerve.
Neurectomy, in which the trigeminal nervus is partly cutting to salvage hurting.

Natural Treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia

You can explore alternative ways to help manage the symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia. These are some you may want to enquire your doctor about:

Acupuncture (a Chinese tradition that uses very thin needles to remainder the flow of free energy in your body)
Aromatherapy (the use of constitute oils such as peppermint, lavander, etc., to assistance healing)
Meditation
Yoga
Biofeedback (learning how to control your torso to reduce pain)
Chiropractic intendance