Myth 1 - The pain comes from teeth as in some cases it started after dental work
FACT 1 - The pain origin from one of the nerves in the brain, named trigeminal nerve and hence the name of the disease. This nerve has 3 branches and depending on which nerve is affected, the area involved hurts. Pain could be in forehead and eye in case 1st branch is affected. Or it could in cheeks, nose, upper teeth if the 2nd branch is affected. Or it could be in the lower jaw, lower teeth if the 3rd nerve is affected.
Myth 2 - If not controlled with medicine, only cure is surgery
FACT 2 - In 10-15% of the patients, medicines does not help with the pain, then there is procedure to help called Radiofrequency ablation. In this the nerve which is affected is targeted. A heat lesion is created to interrupt the pain signals from reaching the brain. This procedure helps for 1-2 years or even longer in some patients. It involves no anesthesia, no incision and requires only day care admission.
Myth 3 - I have to bear the pain for rest of my life
FACT 3 - Being on correct medications helps with the pain or if they don’t then we can go for RFA ( radiofrequency ablation) which is safe and helpful in long term pain relief.
Myth 4 - There are lot of side effects from medicines for trigeminal neuralgia.
FACT 4 - The medicine could be associated with small side effects but it may not occur in all the patients taking it. Also, they are temporary and patients are monitored for it with some blood tests. Hence the side effects if any, are picked on the early stage and you could be given an alternative accordingly.
