Trigeminal neuralgia is an often misdiagnosed, intense pain in the face.
Patients often describe it as if a life electrical wire is touching your face over and over again. The pain strikes the lips, eyes, nose, scalp, forehead and jaw. Patients often think it is an oral problem and commonly go through numerous oral surgeries to try to treat it. Some have gone so far as to have teeth pulled, apply hot pepper creams, taken epileptic drugs, and received intense injections of anesthesia. The problem, say doctors, is related to the nerve called the trigeminal nerve.