Neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve. Symptomatics and treatment.

Neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve refers to a fairly common disease, and, according to statistics, most often she is exposed to the fair sex after 40 years. As a rule, neuralgia can be of two types: primary (idiopathic, essential, typical) and secondary (symptomatic). Besides one-sided, neuralgia can be bilateral.

Neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve. Causes

The main causes of such a disease may be complications after the removed teeth, pulpitis, as well as poorly manufactured prosthesis. Neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve in some cases arises from the pressure on the nerve of blood vessels, this provokes severe pain and changes in the nerve impulse. Often such a reaction can be produced by vascular tumors, and allergic reactions can become a catalyst for such a disease. In some cases, the branches of the trigeminal nerve are subjected to pressure from the skull bone channels through which they pass. The narrowing of these canals is congenital and acquired, for example, with inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx or in the mouth.

Neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve. Symptoms

The disease is most often expressed by short paroxysms of painful intense pains, which are of a periodic shooting character in the innervation zone of the trigeminal nerve branch. Touching the skin of the trigger zone (eyebrows, wings of the nose, skin of the lips, nasolabial folds) causes another attack of shooting pains. Most often the pain affects one part of the face, the initial symptoms of neuralgia are expressed in the skin itch, the appearance of creeps on a certain part of the face. Sometimes involuntary contractions of facial muscles can be observed, seizures are strong enough and no regularity in their appearance is observed. During the day they can manifest themselves up to ten times.

Neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve. The most common treatment

Treatment of neuralgia, as a rule, is symptomatic and antiepileptic. Most of the drugs used carbamazepine, which is considered the most effective tool in the treatment of neuralgia. The drug is administered with an individual dose selection, as a rule, the dose is gradually increased by one tablet per day. To enhance the effect of the drug prescribed antihistamines and vitamins, showing also vasodilating and antispasmodics. Physiotherapy uses diadynamic currents, ionogalvanization with amidopyrine or novocaine, phonophoresis with hydrocortisone.

In some types of neuralgia, treatment is recommended starting with local and general anesthetics. Of the local, most often used lidocaine or anesthetic ointment, which is rubbed into the gum in place of the pain syndrome. Anesthesia, as a rule, comes in 3-5 minutes and lasts for half an hour. If the therapeutic treatment is ineffective, surgical intervention is possible, which today is of two types:

• Microsurgical decompression of the trigeminal nerve branch.
• Transection of the trigeminal nerve branch.

In the treatment of remission comes in a few days .

Alcoholization of the peripheral branch of the trigeminal nerve leads to rapid remission, however, each subsequent alcoholization shortens the duration of remission and the therapeutic effect of using this method is significantly reduced. As a result of this procedure, destructive changes occur, and, in addition to neuralgia, the patient develops iatrogenic neuritis.

Given the above, it can be understood that none of the methods does not give one hundred percent cure for this disease. Some of the drugs provide temporary relief, but mostly they are aimed at eliminating the symptoms of this disease, which means that there is no one hundred percent remedy for neuralgia.