Trigeminal neuralgia

[Jason Yan]

Trigeminal neuralgia is severe facial pain due to malfunction of the 5th cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve). This nerve carries sensory information from the face to the brain and controls the muscles involved in chewing.

The cause is usually an abnormally positioned artery that compresses the trigeminal nerve.
People have repeated short, lightning-like bursts of excruciating stabbing pain in the lower part of the face.
Doctors base the diagnosis on the characteristic pain.
Certain antiseizure drugs, certain antidepressants, or baclofen , may relieve the pain, but surgery is sometimes needed.

(See also Overview of the Cranial Nerves.)
Trigeminal neuralgia usually occurs in middle-aged and older people, although it can affect adults of all ages. It is more common among women.
A common cause of trigeminal neuralgia is

An abnormally positioned artery that compresses the trigeminal nerve near where it exits the brain

Occasionally in younger people, trigeminal neuralgia results from nerve damage due to multiple sclerosis. Rarely, trigeminal neuralgia results from damage due to compression by a tumor, an abnormal connection between arteries and veins (arteriovenous malformation), or a bulge (aneurysm) in an artery supplying a nerve near the brain.

[Ernesto]

a disorder of the trigeminal nerve that causes sudden short periods of severe pain in the face along the nerve: