Trigeminal neuralgia is a type of nerve pain that affects your
face. You may feel an intense burst of pain in part of your
face, usually one side of the jaw or cheek. The pain may be
burning or sharp and so severe that you can’t eat or drink. A
flare-up begins with tingling or numbness in the area. Then pain
starts to come and go, often in bursts that last anywhere from a
few seconds to two minutes. During a flare of the condition,
these bursts of pain may become more and more frequent until the
pain almost never stops. Although the intensity of the pain can
make it hard to get through your day, it’s not life-threatening.
This chronic pain condition can flare up for a few weeks or
months. Then the pain disappears for a while, sometimes years.
Facts about trigeminal neuralgia This pain condition happens
most often in people older than 50, though younger people can
also experience it. Trigeminal neuralgia is more common in women
than men. The condition may run in families. Pressure on your
cheek, such as from a