Facial pain

Treatment options depend on the type of your pain but may include antidepressants or anticonvulsants to decrease the number of pain impulses reaching your brain.

There are surgical options for trigeminal neuralgia, a specific type of facial pain with characteristic symptoms of sharp, stabbing pain often referred to as like ‘electric shocks’. These include:

• glycerol injections
• radiofrequency lesioning
• balloon compression
• stereotactic radiosurgery with Gamma Knife
• microvascular decompression

Your consultant will speak to you about your symptoms, medical history and perform a physical examination of your mouth, face and neck. They may also request the following tests:

• X-rays to rule out bone fractures, breaks or damage
• blood tests to help determine the cause of pain

Usually, as in most chronic pains, no visible cause can be found.

Treatment options depend on the source of your pain but may include:

• Antidepressants or anticonvulsants, to decrease the number of pain impulses reaching your brain
• Glycerol injections
• Radiofrequency lesioning
• Balloon compression
• Stereotactic radiosurgery with Gamma Knife. This uses a concentrated beam of radiation to deliberately damage the nerve where it enters the brainstem.
• Microvascular decompression. This involves relieving the pressure placed on your nerve by blood vessels that are touching the nerve or wrapped around it.