Is there any non surgical treatment for trigeminal neuralgia?
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Hello, my uncle is 72 years old. He is a retired person and stays at home most of the time. Recently he got sudden, severe facial pain. A sharp shooting pain or like having an electric shock near the jaw. We took him to the general physician, he prescribed some standard painkillers, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, that did not help and dentist also has ruled out any dental causes. Then we went to see a neurologist and he advised to undergo MRI. We got the report and it indicates trigeminal neuralgia. The technician mentioned that my uncle may need to undergo a surgery. We will take the report to the neurologist tomorrow during the appointment. Is there any non surgical treatment for trigeminal neuralgia? Please comment.
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@Tiash There are several effective ways to alleviate the pain, including a variety of medications. Medications are generally started at low doses and increased gradually based on patient’s response to the drug. Carbamazepine, an anticonvulsant drug, is the most common medication that doctors use to treat TN. In the early stages of the disease, carbamazepine controls pain for most people. When a patient shows no relief from this medication, a physician has cause to doubt whether TN is present. However, the effectiveness of carbamazepine decreases over time. Possible side effects include dizziness, double vision, drowsiness and nausea. Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant drug, which is most commonly used to treat epilepsy or migraines can also treat TN. Side effects of this drug are minor and include dizziness and/or drowsiness which go away on their own. Oxcarbazepine, a newer medication, has been used more recently as the first line of treatment. It is structurally related to carbamazepine and may be preferred, because it generally has fewer side effects. Possible side effects include dizziness and double vision. Other medications include: baclofen, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, pregabalin, phenytoin, valproic acid, clonazepam, sodium valporate, lamotrigine, topiramate, phenytoin and opioids. There are drawbacks to these medications, other than side effects. Some patients may need relatively high doses to alleviate the pain, and the side effects can become more pronounced at higher doses.