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	Related conditions   - Acoustic neuroma   - Alzheimer's disease   - Stroke   - Carpal tunnel syndrome   - Trigeminal neuralgia   - Epilepsy   - Whiplash   - Hydrocephalus   - Restless leg syndrome   - Multiple sclerosis   - Dementia   - Parkinson's disease   - Vertebral fracture   - Peripheral neuropathy

Signs and symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia

Patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) suffer facial pain, often triggered by simple acts, such as applying makeup, brushing the teeth, a simple touch to the face, even the caress of a gentle breeze.

The pain occurs in the areas supplied by the trigeminal nerve, which include the cheeks, mandible, maxilla, teeth, gums, lips, and sometimes even the eyes and forehead. Typically, patients experience pain on one side of the face or the other, although bilateral TN does occur. Sometimes, the pain will lessen or intensify for periods of weeks of months, but the pain is chronic.

What causes TN?

The intense pain caused by TN has a variety of causes. Pressure put on the trigeminal nerve (as it leaves the brain) by a tumor or blood vessel may bring on the condition, as may multiple sclerosis. In some patients, cause for the condition may never be precisely determined. TN typically manifests itself in patients who are in their early to mid 50's, although it can appear in younger patients who have developed multiple sclerosis.

One thing is certain. Patients with TN can suffer from excruciating bouts of pain.

Treating TN

The Aurora St. Luke's Neuroscience Center offers you a full range of treatment options for trigeminal neuralgia. Some patients respond positively to a variety of drugs, including anti-convulsants, anti-epileptics and anti-depressants.

If drug treatments are ineffective, other procedures may be recommended. These include glycerol injections, balloon compression, radio frequency rhizotomy, and, for patients who can tolerate a craniotomy, microvascular decompression surgery.

St. Luke's physicians also have extensive experience using Gamma Knife as a non-invasive proven treatment alternative for TN.

The advantages of the Gamma Knife

The Gamma Knife uses precisely focused beams of radiation to treat problems in specific areas of the brain. With TN, the target area is the trigeminal nerve at the point where it exits the brain. Most important, the Gamma Knife offers many advantages for you:

• Treatment is noninvasive
• Risk of cerebrospinal leakage or infection in non-exisitent
• Patients do not have to endure conventional neurosurgery
• No general anesthesia is required
• Patients are usually in the hospital for less than 5 hours.
• 85% to 90% of TN patients treated experience excellent to good pain relief

Any patient with pain caused by TN is an excellent candidate for the Gamma Knife, regardless of age or medical condition. Learn more

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