Trigeminal neuralgia is caused by what? Generally, patients with trigeminal neuralgia are as painful as cuts, needles, clicks, and other painful conditions, and even affect their regular diet and eating, trigeminal neuralgia patients over 40 years of age are more common in women. What causes trigeminal neuralgia? The most common location of trigeminal neuralgia is the area innervated by the second and third branches of the trigeminal nerve, which is the location of the cheek and jaw. Pain in the area innervated by the first branch, in the forehead and around the eyes, is less common. Generally, trigeminal neuralgia occurs on only one side (half of the face). The pain of trigeminal neuralgia is like a knife cut, pins and needles, electric shock, tearing-like, lasting from a few seconds to tens of seconds, and the pain can occur suddenly. The interval between pain episodes may be minutes, hours or days. In the intervals between pain attacks, the patient is completely normal. Trigeminal neuralgia does not usually manifest as constant pain. In a small percentage of patients, there are painful trigger points (trigger points) on the face, usually located around the nose and mouth and lips, which may be triggered when washing the face, brushing the teeth, talking, or eating, and can seriously interfere with daily life. Why do you get trigeminal neuralgia? (1) Vascular compression: The most common cause of trigeminal neuralgia is due to the root of the trigeminal nerve being compressed by curved blood vessels. The trigeminal nerve can be imagined as a cable, and the cable is made up of many different wires that transmit different signals to the brain, such as pain, touch, temperature, and so on. The wires are insulated from each other by a protective sheath (myelin sheath). When a nerve is compressed by a blood vessel, this protective sheath may be destroyed (demyelination), and then the different wires may short-circuit each other, and the tactile signals may be transmitted to the nociceptive signals, thus inducing pain. (2) Tumors at the base of the skull, vascular malformations and multiple sclerosis can also cause trigeminal neuralgia. What tests are needed for trigeminal neuralgia? The diagnosis of typical trigeminal neuralgia can usually be made by combining the medical history and symptoms, and no special tests are needed. However, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) may be required in certain cases: (1) when the diagnosis is doubtful and there is a lack of typical symptoms; (2) when trigeminal neuralgia is suspected to be caused by other diseases; (3) when the patient is younger than 40 years old; (4) when medication is not effective; and (5) when trigeminal neuralgia is caused by something else. Trigeminal neuralgia do not take drugs indiscriminately, must go to the hospital for consultation for treatment, choose the regular hospital to help their condition.