Trigeminal Neuralgia

What is it?

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a painful condition that can be identified by on-and-off shooting pain in the face. In our Seattle Dentist Eastside Bellevue Dentist office we can help. Please contact us at (425) 454-2005 or fill out the form below.

Neuralgia simply means pain; the pain is extremely intense, sharp, episodic, periodical, excruciating, stabbing and short lasting. Along with the pain you may have a short facial spasm or tic, which is why it also has a French term "tic doulourex". The pain felt during an episode usually happens on one side of your face. Every once in awhile trigeminal neuralgia may be felt as very fast series of tic-like spasms that can be set off by seemingly small events or nothing noticable.

Of all of the nerve pain disorders, Trigeminal Neuralgia seems to be the most common. It can happen at any age but it usually begins in women 50 years of age or older. Though the conditions of Trigeminal Neuralgiaare distinct, they may often be confused with several other conditions.

Trigeminal Neuralgia should be differentiated from other similar conditions like atypical facial pain, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ), sinusitis, migraine headache, other forms of neuritis, and dental problems. You have to make sure that you don’t have these conditions before you consider thinking about whether or not you might have Trigeminal Neuralgia.

What Causes Trigeminal Neuralgia?

The most common place for you to feel TN pain is along the cheekbone, most of the nose, upper lip, and upper teeth. The second most common area you may feel the pain is the lower cheek, lower lip, and jaw.

The pain can become so severe that it interferes with your normal activities like eating and brushing teeth. The condition is very serious and can lead to irritability, fear of the next episode, depression, and life-threatening malnutrition.

TN is typically described by patients as extremely severe episodes of pain. Probably the most painful condition known to the human race! The pain is described as stabbing, excruciating, periodic, as if your face is being electrically shocked electric in certain areas.

The pain may show up suddenly, may last for a split second or for a few minutes. In some cases it may last for a couple of hours, making you almost unable to move. You may not be able to do anything else until the pain calms down.

The pain may be set off either without any cause at all or by some movements where you use the facial muscles. Some examples may include washing your face, brushing your teeth, shaving, putting on make-up, touching your face, blowing, kissing, and chewing.

Sometimes even something as small as a mild light breeze may also cause you to experience pain. The level of pain is different for everybody, but for almost all of the people the pain is usually only on one side of the face.

Oddly enough, TN tends to go away for quite a long time; sometimes for weeks or even months. Then it will act up again making it difficult to judge how effective any specific treatment may be. TN seems to flare up most often in the fall and spring.


How do you know if you have it?

To make sure you know that the pain you are experiencing is TN, you should contact us to have your pain diagnosed. Please contact us in our Seattle Dentist Eastside Bellevue Dentist office at (425) 454-2005 to schedule an appointment. We would like to help.