Five-year results are encouraging, but they don't know what happens 50 years later after treatment. People go into the procedure expecting immediate relief, but doctors say it can take up to six weeks before they are able to go off all medications. In 1988, Vivian Cook found it impossible to dabble in arts and crafts after she was struck with sudden pain. She thought she needed dental work, but after several root canals, the pain persisted. Eventually the problem was diagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia, a disorder of the nerve that provides feeling to the face.
Doctors believe that the pain is caused by a blood vessel pressing against the nerve.
Cook tried medication to relieve the pain, but the pills soon lost their punch. After 12 years of pain, she found relief in a device called the gamma knife. It produces a low dose of radiation. A helmet-like device splits the radiation into beams, and targets the trigeminal nerve where it meets the brain stem. The facial pain usually disappears within a few weeks of the procedure, Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Tatter said.