Kenneth Kee - Trigeminal Neuralgia, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

I then wrote an autobiolographical account ofhis journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com . This autobiolographical account A FamilyDoctors Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide toMedical Conditions into a new Wordpress Blog A Family DoctorsTale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com. From which many free articles from the blogwas taken and put together into 600 amazon kindle books and someinto Smashwords.com eBooks. Some people have complained that the simpleguides are too simple. For their information they are made simple inorder to educate the patients. The later books go into more details ofmedical conditions.

The first chapter is always from my earlierblogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spellingmistakes. Since 2013, I have tried to improve myspelling and writing. As I tried to bring you the latestinformation about a condition or illness by reading the latestjournals both online and offline, I find that I am learning moreand improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis andtreatment for my patients. Just by writing all these simple guides Ifind that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad),criticism and advice. I am sorry for the repetitions in thesesimple guides as the second chapters onwards have new informationas compared to my first chapter taken from my blog. I also find repetition definitely help me andmaybe some readers to remember the facts in the books moreeasily.

I apologize if these repetitions areirritating to some readers.

There was also the side effect of a droopedfacial muscle. He was seeing instead a neurologist and hispain was relieved not totally with pain killers and a nerve paindrug called tegretol. However he had some gastric problem becauseof the strong pain killer. Hearing about my injection for osteoarthritisand rheumatism, he came to consult me. I told him that the injection only workedwith joint pain and not nerve pain. In his case he needed an injection which willkill the nerve.

In those days there was no Botox injectionwhich could kill the nerve. So what I used was (as recommended by an oldmedical book) surgical spirit. This was mixed with a local anesthetic andinjection was done into the nerve branch between the nose andlips. There was a slight droop of the face afterthe nerve was injected. Together with some painkiller, antacid andhis Tegretol, the pain was reduced considerably. Each time there was recurrence of painanother injection was given.

He had a total of 4 injections of thesurgical spirit before the pain disappeared completely. He comes to see me together with his wife forrheumatic pain but not for the nerve pain. Nowadays the new aesthetic or cosmeticphysician will probably inject him with Botox which can cost a fewthousand dollars. Sometime an old method worked equallywell. What is Trigeminal Neuralgia? Trigeminal Neuralgia is a medical disorderthat presents as pain along the fifth cranial nerve. Trigeminal Neuralgia can present as thesudden, lightning-like paroxysms of pain which happens in thepathway of one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve normally onone side of the face.

It is an infrequent condition affecting morewomen than men. It is more frequent at the age of 60 yearsand above What are the causes of TrigeminalNeuralgia? 1. Compression of the trigeminal nerve bytumors or vascular anomalies (e.g. aneurysm) 2. Trauma- injury to the trigeminal nerve 3. Tumors- pressure of the trigeminalnerve 4.

Infections-such as meningeal inflammationof the trigeminal nerve 5. Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome inflamed temporomandibular joint may compress or produceinflammation in the trigeminal nerve. 6. Multiple sclerosis-the demyelination frommultiple sclerosis may be the reason and more frequent in theyounger patient. What are the symptoms of TrigeminalNeuralgia? The pain is short, lightning-like, paroxysmaland normally severe. There are recurrent stabbing pains orspontaneous aggravations of pain.

It may occur from a few seconds to 1-2minutes that is followed by a painless period (refractory). Occasionally the pain happens in clusters tothe extent that the patient believes that it can last forhours. Typically the maxillary branch is mostfrequently affected followed by the mandibular, and then theophthalmic. Pain usually happen on one side (unilateral),rarely both sides (bilateral). Pain can happen several times a day. It seldom happens at night.

There are some triggering factors which canspark off an attack: A light contact at the trigger zone such asthe lips is the most stimulative. Other triggers are: 1. Shaving, 2. Face washing, 3. Chewing 4. Talking 5.

Brushing teeth 6. Sneezing Pain produces brief muscle spasm of thefacial muscles, causing the tic. Physical examination findings are normal. A normal neurological examination is part ofthe examination in the diagnosis of idiopathic TrigeminalNeuralgia. A meticulous examination of the cranialnerves must be done that includes the corneal reflex. Any abnormal sign in the neurologicalexamination indicates that the trigeminal neuralgia is secondary toother illnesses.

What are the investigations required in thediagnosis of Trigeminal Neuralgia? 1. Blood tests are blood sedimentation rate(ESR), antinuclear antibody titer (ANA), double-stranded DNA,anti-Sm antibody, lupus erythematosus cell preparation, infectionssuch as meningitis, 2. MRI of brain to exclude a rare mass lesionor abnormal vessel pressing on the nerve roots. What is the treatment of TrigeminalNeuralgia? Medications: 1. Carbamazepine (tegretol) or Gabapentin isthe most effective medical treatment. 2.