Where is the trigeminal nerve located?
Disease description:
Recently, I have always felt pain on the left side of my face. After an examination, the doctor diagnosed it as trigeminal neuralgia. Where is the trigeminal nerve located?
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Lv Zhiqin
The trigeminal nerve, officially known as the fifth cranial nerve, has a unique position in the nervous system. It originates from the pons at the base of the brainstem and divides into three major branches: the ophthalmic nerve, the maxillary nerve, and the mandibular nerve.
The ophthalmic nerve is primarily responsible for sensory transmission from the eye and forehead regions, including touch, temperature sensation, and pain from the eye, eyebrows, and forehead skin. It does not contain motor fibers and functions purely as a sensory nerve.
The maxillary nerve manages sensation in the cheek, upper lip, nose, and maxillary teeth. Similarly, it lacks motor components and focuses solely on transmitting sensory information from the mid-face area.
The mandibular nerve not only handles sensory functions for the mandible, lower lip, preauricular area, and mandibular teeth, but it also contains motor fibers that control movement of the masticatory muscles, such as the temporalis and masseter muscles.
The trigeminal nerve is responsible not only for sensory conduction across most areas of the face, but also for motor control of muscles such as the masticatory muscles, helping to maintain normal facial function and expression. Damage to the trigeminal nerve may result in facial sensory abnormalities, pain, and difficulties with chewing.
