Carbamazepine or phenytoin may be helpful for pain associated with trigeminal neuralgia . Antidepressant medications may be helpful to control pain in some cases. Other treatments may include nerve blocks or surgical procedures to decrease sensitivity of the nerve. Physical therapy may be helpful for some types of neuralgia, especially postherpetic neuralgia. Most neuralgias are not life threatening and do not indicate other life-threatening disorders.
Pain can be severe and in some cases, incapacitating.
Neuralgia pain has been known to drive some people to suicide . Most neuralgias respond to treatment. As the person ages, attacks may be more frequent. In many cases, no prevention is known. Treatment of associated disorders may or may not prevent development of neuralgia.