Trigeminal Neuralgia (Facial Pain)

About 15,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia yearly. If you need relief from intense facial pain, Aizik L. Wolf, MD, can help. Dr. Wolf provides customized treatment plans using medications and advanced surgical techniques to relieve pressure on the trigeminal nerve. He offers Gamma Knife® radiosurgery to accurately target the nerve responsible for your facial pain, so you can enjoy long-lasting symptom relief. Call the South Miami, Florida, offer to schedule a trigeminal neuralgia consultation, or book an appointment online today.

What is trigeminal neuralgia?

Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic condition that causes intense facial and jaw pain. The condition results when there’s pressure or inflammation on the trigeminal nerves, the largest nerves in your head. This nerve is responsible for providing sensory and motor functions in your face.

Pressure or inflammation on the trigeminal nerve can result from:

• Trauma
• Viruses
• Aneurysms
• Brain tumors, or cysts

You may also experience trigeminal neuralgia symptoms if blood vessels grow over or wrap around the nerve.

Your risk for the condition can increase with age, especially if you’re over 50 and in people with multiple sclerosis. Trigeminal neuralgia is also more common in women than men.

What are the symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia?

You have a trigeminal nerve on each side of your face, so you typically experience symptoms only on one side of your face. These symptoms can include:

• Toothaches
• Jaw pain
• Electric shock-like facial pain
• Persistent burning or stabbing pain

In the early stages of trigeminal neuralgia, your pain episodes may only last a few seconds. Your pain may last hours as the condition progresses, with days or months in between attacks.

Dr. Wolf offers diagnostic testing services in-office to confirm trigeminal neuralgia is the cause of your symptoms. He customizes a care plan to treat your condition and lessen the severity of your pain.

How is trigeminal neuralgia treated?

Your initial treatment plan for trigeminal neuralgia may include medications to block pain signals in the trigeminal nerve.

If medications aren’t enough, you may be a candidate for surgery. Dr. Wolf can use the Gamma Knife® to deliver a dose of radiation to the root of your trigeminal nerve. The radiation damages the nerve to disrupt pain signals. It can take up to a month for the pain to go away after Gamma Knife radiosurgery.

Dr. Wolf also specializes in the surgical treatment of brain tumors that can trigger trigeminal neuralgia. He may use Gamma Knife technology to destroy tumors that press on your trigeminal nerves.

Call the office of Aizik L. Wolf, MD, to schedule a diagnostic evaluation for intense facial pain that trigeminal neuralgia can cause, or book an appointment online today.

Microvascular decompression is a surgical procedure to stop pain caused by  a  blood vessel pressing on the trigeminal nerve.

 A small incision is made in your skull and the surgeon will navigate through the tissue to locate the affected nerve and vessel pressing on it. A Teflon pad will be placed between the nerve and blood vessel to prevent them from touching. The procedure takes Dr. Wolf approximately 90 minutes. Most patients will go home the next day. Many patients report immediate pain relief, although it may take a few weeks before symptoms are completely gone. In Dr. Wolf’s experience, having performed over 1,300 MVD procedures, over 90% of patients will experience significant long term pain relief.