Trigeminal Neuralgia - pain in face and cheek..

What is Trigeminal Neuralgia 

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a painful condition characterized by a severe shock like pain on one side of the face. The condition is very difficult to treat and interfere with the quality of life. The condition makes life miserable; one cannot eat, brush teeth, talk and even smile. 

The majority of the sufferers are woman in their middle ages. Thousands of people suffer from this condition. Sometime Trigeminal Neuralgia becomes difficult to diagnose even by the medical fraternity. Centers with the facility are available to tackle the dreadful condition, however, awareness is not adequate and the expenditure involved is huge. 

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The condition is classified as neuropathic pain (pain originating from nerve damage) and all neuropathic pains are very hard to treat. The Trigeminal nerve carries sensation from the face to the brain. If one has Trigeminal neuralgia, even mild stimulation of the face may trigger a jolt of excruciating pain in the form of burning, tingling sensation shocks etc.

The areas which get affected are lower jaw, upper jaw and area around the eye. Nearly ninety percent chances are on an arterial blood vessel which comes into contact with the nerve and continuously irritates causing the pain. Initially, the pain is mild and can be managed well by small doses of medication, but as the disease progresses, it turns resistant to the regular medication and the pain gets worse.

Treatment 
There are no specific diagnostic tools to confirm the disease and entirely depends on patients’ symptoms. Some investigations like MRI and CT SCAN can exclude the conditions in the brain causing this pain. MRI can detect the blood vessel which is pressing this nerve in the brain.

The definitive treatment would be surgery where the blood vessel which is causing the pressure on the nerve is separated and freed so that they cannot come into contact. Trigeminal Neuralgia needs a major surgery which involves the opening of the skull. 

Operating such a condition requires a lot of expertise and skill. Usually the success rates of the surgery are excellent with full recovery. However, there are high risks involved in the surgery; soaring expenditure and full recovery can take weeks.

A revolutionary treatment–Radio frequency Ablation
A recent innovation in medical science has made the treatment simple and affordable and into the reach of common people – it’s known as Radiofrequency Ablation (RF). A simple, short procedure where a small sized needle is introduced into the area of the nerve affected and radiofrequency waves are sent to relieve the pain just in a matter of time. 

During the entire procedure the patient is awake and interacts with the physician. No pain or admission in the hospital is necessary. The procedure takes less than half an hour and the patient returns home the same day free of any pain which he or she is suffering for years. The possibilities of the pain returning are also very rare. Even, if the pain makes a comeback, it can be tackled by a minor injection or oral medications.

Dr. Sudheer Dara, MD Chief of Pain Medicine
Continental Hospitals, Mobile: 7799661661 www.continentalhospitals.com,