Trigeminal neuralgia is the abbreviation for primary trigeminal neuralgia, which is more common in adults and the elderly, accounting for 70-80% of patients over 40 years of age, and more women than men. It is characterized by transient and recurrent severe pain in the trigeminal nerve distribution area. The pain is cyclic, with episodes ranging from days, weeks or months, with periods of remission as normal. The etiology of primary trigeminal neuralgia is not yet known. Some scholars believe that the lesion is located in the part of the trigeminal nerve between the semilunar node and the pons, and that it is due to compression caused by various reasons; others believe that trigeminal neuralgia is a sensory epileptiform seizure, and the abnormal discharge site may be in the nucleus of the spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve or in the brainstem. The pathogenesis of trigeminal neuralgia is still under discussion, but most scholars believe that the cause of trigeminal neuralgia is the local demyelination of the trigeminal nerve, which generates abnormal impulses and the formation of pseudosynapses or short circuits in adjacent nerve fibers, through which minor nociceptive stimuli are transmitted to the center, and central efferent impulses are also transmitted through the short circuit, thus causing trigeminal neuralgia attacks. In conclusion, primary trigeminal neuralgia may be a transient recurrent severe pain in the trigeminal nerve distribution associated with the demyelination of the nerve due to microvascular compression of the trigeminal nerve root, and should be treated under the guidance of a professional neurologist.