Nerve blocks for treating trigeminal neuralgia

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a pain condition that sends signals of pain from your face to the brain.

It is caused by an irritation to the trigeminal nerve and is noted as a sharp, stabbing, shooting pain. It can be elicited from several simple things i.e. eating, cool air blowing on the face, or even brushing your teeth. These intense pains can limit functioning during the day and reduce the quality of life.

In a previous visit to Advanced Spine and Pain (ASAP), Patient SS came to our office with her daughter. The patient stated that she had left-sided facial pain that had been ongoing for years. The pain would be intense lasting seconds to minutes and would resolve and reoccur for a period of hours. Because of the pain, she would try to only eat soft foods and was afraid to turn on the air in the home because the gentle air sometimes blowing on her face would “spark her symptoms.”

The patient and her daughter stated that they tried conservative measures of treatment including warm compresses, over the counter Tylenol, and even trying powerful nerve medications; however, these were only mildly helpful. Eventually, she came for evaluation and was recommended an injection-based treatment of trigeminal nerve blocks as conservative measures still limited her quality of life.

Upon follow-up, the patient and daughter were so pleased with her treatment she was nearly in tears stating that she could now eat, put on make-up, and even brush her teeth with very minimal pain. She said, “I now have my life back.”