Neuralgia: More a Symptom Than a Disease

Neuralgia is a form of nervous disorder that is generally deemed a symptom rather than a disease. It is a succession of attacks of sharp pain in the area ordinarily provided by a cranial nerve situated in the neck or face. In neuralgia, unlike in neuritis (an inflammatory lesion of a nerve), there is no evident change that takes place in the structure of the nerve.

Three examples of true neuralgia, which are discussed here, are trigeminal neuralgia, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, and causalgia.

1. Trigeminal neuralgia (also called tic douloureux). The afferent nerve to the face is the trigeminal nerve. This nerve is composed of three branches: the first branch supplies the forehead's and the eyes' skin; the second branch supplies the skin of the face's side between the mouth and the eye; and the last branch supplies the skin of the side of the jaw and the lower lip. It is believed that any one of these three branches (or possibly all three) is involved in trigeminal neuralgia.

The onset of this neuralgia usually takes place at around age 50, although it may come into existence at any time during the adult life. It also occurs more frequently in women than in men. The pain in this neuralgia is like a thrust of a pointed object which occurs in bursts and usually continues for a brief moment. In its early phase, it may not recur for a few days. But as it progress, recurrence becomes more frequent. The pain can be so intense that it's a virtual torture for the one affected. Certain activities that involve the mouth and face usually set off the attack. These may include chewing of food, drinking, talking, exposure to heat or cold, or even the mere washing of the face.