There are times when I think I must have experienced all types of pain in every part of my body, for the past 30 years. Well guess what…

About a month ago I woke up with a severe sharp pain in the back of my head. It didn’t last long but left me with a dull pain in my head for days. I couldn’t even comb my hair because my scalp was really painful too. I am used to the painful scalp scenario so I didn’t really think too much of it. Over the following week I felt like I had a tooth ache and an ear ache on the right side, my forehead and eyes felt heavy, the pain was behind my ear and all around the right side of my jaw. chewing food, brushing my teeth, even washing my face hurt. If you have ever experienced an ear ache and a tooth ache at the same time, you know I would be slightly concerned that something else is going on. It’s very easy to blame everything of Fibro…

The pain was off the scale, the cold air made it feel 10 times worse. I bought myself some sports ear muffs to wear as my ears hurt so much, occasionally I would get shooting pain in my left ear. I have to wear a Snood when I go out sometimes. After an appointment with a doctor online (couldn’t get to talk to my doc), she told me to call 111 or go to an urgent care centre to be seen that day or the next. There was no way I could sit for hours anywhere so I didn’t bother and thought I’d try my GP the next day. After describing my symptoms, my GP had already read the notes made from the day before, he said you are experiencing Neuralgia. Unfortunately, a medication I was happy reducing I had to increase and it has calmed it down. But why did this happen in the first place?

So what is Trigeminal Neuralgia?

Trigeminal neuralgia is sudden, severe facial pain. It’s often described as a sharp shooting pain or like having an electric shock in the jaw, teeth or gums.

It usually happens in short, unpredictable attacks that can last from a few seconds to about 2 minutes. The attacks stop as suddenly as they start. 

In most cases, trigeminal neuralgia affects just one side of the face, with the pain usually felt in the lower part of the face. Very occasionally the pain can affect both sides of the face, although not usually at the same time.

Some people may then develop a more continuous aching, throbbing or burning sensation, sometimes accompanied by the sharp attacks

Trigeminal neuralgia is usually caused by compression of the trigeminal nerve. This is the nerve inside the skull that transmits sensations of pain and touch from your face, teeth and mouth to your brain.

The compression of the trigeminal nerve is usually caused by a nearby blood vessel pressing on part of the nerve inside the skull.

Trigeminal neuralgia can also happen when the trigeminal nerve is damaged by another medical condition, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) or a tumour.

The attacks of pain are usually brought on by activities that involve lightly touching the face, such as washing, eating and brushing the teeth, but they can also be triggered by wind – even a slight breeze or air conditioning – or movement of the face or head. Sometimes the pain can happen without a trigger.

(https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/trigeminal-neuralgia/ )

Lessons learnt

Always trust your instincts, if you feel something new or different is happening get help as you may be able to get things under control a lot quicker.