Clinically, trigeminal neuralgia and facial spasm are both primary cranial nerve disorders. Both are caused by compression of nerves by intracranial vessels. Similarities: Both diseases are more common in the middle-aged and elderly population. There are more female patients than male. The site of onset is located in the cheek. At the same time, they both have the characteristic of recurrent attacks. Differences: The trigeminal nerve is a sensory nerve, so damage to the trigeminal nerve manifests as severe pain, while damage to the facial nerve is a motor nerve and manifests as involuntary movements. When trigeminal neuralgia attacks, it is a severe pain with sudden onset and stop, and it is a lightning-like, cutting-like, burning-like severe pain. It may be triggered by brushing teeth, washing face, laughing, eating, etc. The seizures last from a few seconds to a few minutes and are often unbearable. Facial muscle spasm attacks are characterized by involuntary throbbing of the unilateral part. It is aggravated by emotion or tension. Patients often have difficulty opening their eyes, tilting the corners of their mouth, and squeezing their eyebrows. Early on, they often present as eyelid fluttering. There is no trigger point on the face and the timing of the attacks is variable. How to treat trigeminal neuralgia and facial muscle spasm Because the pathogenesis of both is more or less the same, they are both caused by intracranial blood vessels pressing on the nerves. Therefore, the same surgical treatment can be used – microvascular decompression microvascular decompression refers to the magnification of intracranial nerves and blood vessels through a high-powered microscope, and then place a spacer between the nerves and blood vessels, so as to release the compression of the nerves by the blood vessels and restore the normal function of the nerves. This technique has the advantages of minimally invasive, high safety and low recurrence rate.