Trigeminal Neuralgia 
The condition is called trigeminal neuralgia because the painful facial areas are those served by one or more of the three branches of your trigeminal nerve. This large nerve originates deep inside your brain and carries sensation from your face to your brain. The pain of trigeminal neuralgia is due to a disturbance in the function of the trigeminal nerve. Trigeminal neuralgia is also known as tic douloureux.
The cause of the pain usually is due to contact between a normal artery or vein and the trigeminal nerve at the base of your brain. This places pressure on the nerve as it enters your brain and causes the nerve to misfire. Physical nerve damage or stress may be the initial trigger for trigeminal neuralgia.
After the trigeminal nerve leaves your brain and travels through your skull, it divides into three smaller branches, controlling sensation throughout your face: The first branch controls sensation in your eye, upper eyelid and forehead, The second branch controls sensation in your lower eyelid, cheek, nostril, upper lip and upper gum, The third branch controls sensations in your jaw, lower lip, lower gum and some of the muscles you use for chewing.
You may initially experience short, mild attacks, but trigeminal neuralgia can progress, causing longer, more frequent bouts of searing pain. These painful attacks can be spontaneous, but they may also be provoked by even mild stimulation of your face, including brushing your teeth, shaving or putting on makeup. The pain of trigeminal neuralgia may occur in a fairly small area of your face, or it may spread rapidly over a wider area.
An attack of trigeminal neuralgia can last from a few seconds to about a minute. Some people have mild, occasional twinges of pain, while other people have frequent, severe, electric-shock-like pain. The condition tends to come and go. You may experience attacks of pain off and on all day, or even for days or weeks at a time. Then, you may experience no pain for a prolonged period of time. Remission is less common the longer you have trigeminal neuralgia.
People who have experienced severe trigeminal neuralgia have described the pain as:
- Lightning-like or electric-shock-like
- Shooting
- Jabbing
- Like having live wires in your face
Trigeminal neuralgia usually affects just one side of your face. The pain may affect just a portion of one side of your face or spread in a wider pattern. Rarely, trigeminal neuralgia can affect both sides of your face, but not at the same time.
Trigeminal neuralgia affects women more often than men. The disorder is more likely to occur in people who are older than 50. About 5 percent of people with trigeminal neuralgia have other family members with the disorder, which suggests a possible genetic cause in some cases.
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