Trigeminal neuralgia treatment in Hyderabad

What is trigeminal neuralgia?

Trigeminal neuralgia is a long-term nerve pain condition affecting the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from the face. It causes brief attacks of severe, shooting pain — often described as an electric shock — in the area supplied by one or more of the nerve’s three branches.

The first branch supplies the forehead and eye, the second the cheek and upper lip, and the third the jaw, lower lip and teeth. It usually affects one side of the face.

Common causes of trigeminal neuralgia

In many people the cause is a blood vessel pressing on the trigeminal nerve close to where it leaves the brainstem, which wears away the nerve’s protective coating. Sometimes no cause is found. Less often it is secondary to another condition:

• Pressure on the nerve from a nearby blood vessel
• Multiple sclerosis
• A tumour or cyst pressing on the nerve
• Injury to the nerve from facial trauma or surgery, including dental surgery

Symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia

The typical pattern is sudden stabbing or shock-like pain lasting from a fraction of a second to about two minutes, sometimes in rapid bursts. Between attacks there may be no pain at all, though some people have a background ache or burning.

Attacks are often triggered by everyday things: washing or touching the face, shaving, brushing teeth, chewing, talking, or a cold breeze. Many people first see a dentist, because the pain can feel as if it comes from a tooth.

How Halcyon finds the cause

The diagnosis is mostly made from the pattern of your pain and a careful examination of the face to work out which branch of the nerve is involved. An MRI of the brain is commonly advised to look for a blood vessel or another cause pressing on the nerve. Bring any earlier MRI reports and a list of the medicines you have tried, with doses.

Before any radiofrequency treatment, the consultant needs to be confident that the branch being treated is the one carrying the pain. The plan is built around that confirmation rather than around a guess.

Non-surgical treatment options at Halcyon

Medication, usually an anticonvulsant prescribed and adjusted by your doctor, is the standard first treatment and works well for many people. Over time some find it stops controlling the pain or causes side effects they cannot live with.

At that point Halcyon offers radiofrequency ablation of the affected branch. A precise current, delivered through a fine needle under image guidance, interrupts the nerve fibres carrying the pain signal. It aims for longer-lasting relief without open surgery. How long relief lasts varies from person to person, and the procedure can be repeated if the pain returns. Some numbness in the treated area afterwards is a known effect, and the consultant will discuss this with you beforehand.

What to expect on the day and after

The procedure is done under local anaesthetic, so you stay awake and can talk to the consultant throughout. There is no general anaesthetic and no admission; most people are home within about two hours.

You will leave with aftercare instructions and a review date. Do not stop or change your medication on your own — any reduction is planned with your doctor once the effect of treatment is clear.

When to see a doctor

See a doctor if you have repeated attacks of sharp facial pain, especially if dental treatment has not explained them. Some facial symptoms need urgent assessment instead of a clinic appointment.

• Sudden facial drooping, slurred speech, or weakness of an arm or leg — go to an emergency department now
• Facial pain with loss of vision, double vision or a severe new headache
• Numbness of the face that is spreading or persistent
• Facial pain with fever, or swelling of the face or jaw