Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal or 5th cranial nerve. The trigeminal nerve is responsible for sensation in the face. It branches out into three divisions - the ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular nerves.

TN causes severe, sporadic facial pain that usually feels like a clicking or electric shock in specific areas like the cheek, lips, nose, eyes or jaw. Episodes of pain can last from a few seconds to several minutes at a time and may come uncontrollably dozens of times per day. The pain can be triggered by activities like chewing, brushing teeth, talking or tactile stimuli like a light touch on the face.

Causes and Risk Factors of Trigeminal Neuralgia

The exact cause Trigeminal Neuralgia Treatment is not fully understood. However, it is often caused due to vascular compression, where a blood vessel compresses or indirectly irritates the trigeminal nerve as it exits the brainstem. Other potential causes include demyelination of the nerve fibers or defects in the myelin sheath that protects the nerve.

Some key risk factors for developing TN include older age (over 50 years), female gender and multiple sclerosis. Rarely, tumors in the cerebellopontine angle region can also cause TN-like facial pain. People with a family history of TN may also have a slightly higher risk.

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