What is trigeminal neuralgia?
Trigeminal neuralgia is a condition characterised by intense pain originating from the trigeminal nerve.
The pain is usually described by patients as a sharp shooting pain or having an electric shock in the face or jaw.
Usually the pain is sudden and it can last a couple of seconds or minutes, also in most cases trigeminal neuralgia affects one side of the face.
What is trigeminal nerve?
Trigeminal nerve is our 5th cranial nerve, and its responsible for sensation in your face and motor functions like chewing and biting. Trigeminal nerve has 3 branches:
The ophthalmic nerve (sensory nerve)
Maxillary nerve (sensory nerve)
Mandibular nerve (sensory and motor nerve)
Trigeminal nerve is a large nerve and helps your face to feel and recognise pain, touch , heat and cold by sending these information to your brain.