Treatment Methods for Trigeminal Neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia is a disease characterized by severe, brief, and recurrent episodes of facial pain, primarily affecting the distribution area of the trigeminal nerve. Main treatment options for trigeminal neuralgia include the following: 1. **Medication**: The first-line drugs are anticonvulsants, such as carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine, which can effectively inhibit abnormal nerve discharges and reduce pain. For some patients, analgesics may be used as adjunctive therapy. 2. **Physical therapy**: Such as heat or cold compresses, suitable for patients with mild or acute episodes of pain. These treatments can promote muscle relaxation or reduce inflammatory responses, thereby alleviating pain. 3. **Surgical treatment**: For pain caused by abnormal vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve, microvascular decompression or other surgical procedures may be performed to relieve the compression and cure the pain. 4. **Local block therapy**: Such as radiofrequency ablation and trigeminal nerve block, suitable for patients who do not respond to or cannot tolerate medication. The choice of treatment should be determined according to the patient's specific condition and the doctor's recommendation.