Neuritis of the trigeminal nerve: symptoms and treatment

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The tee nerve is a large nervous branch that provides the sensitivity of the entire face and the activity of the facial muscles. For a number of reasons, this nerve can be damaged, resulting in various functional disorders, often accompanied by pain. One of the most common disorders is the trigeminal neuritis, the symptoms and treatment of which should be considered.

Two trigeminal nerve are located on the face,three branches responsible for the sensitivity of different parts of the face. The upper branch is responsible for the sensitivity of the skin on the forehead, upper eyelids, the middle branch - for the lower eyelids, the sensitivity of the skin and mucous nose, upper lip, lower branch - lower lip, chin, chewing muscles.

With neuritis, the proper functioning of the nervous branch is disturbed, the whole process is accompanied by severe pain, spreading along the length of the entire nerve. Pain in this disease is one of the strongest in the human body.

There may be neuritis for various reasons, it is not always possible to recover from this disease. If you delay for a long time with the beginning of therapy, atrophy of the facial muscles can develop, which can permanently change their functionality and the appearance of the face.

In general, for the treatment of this condition, medications, physiotherapy, and massage are used. With severe lesions and complications, surgical intervention is required. It is worth noting that the treatment always lasts long enough, you need to be prepared for this.

What distinguishes neuritis from trigeminal neuralgia

Neuritis and neuralgia are essentially the same disease. The difference between the two concepts is practically nonexistent, but it should be noted that neuralgia is a more common name for this disease.

In neuralgia or neuritis, the trigeminal nerve is affected, the lesion is accompanied by severe pain and various motor impairments. This is all that one should know about the mechanism of the development of the disease.

Important! Individual branches of the trigeminal nerve can be affected or it may be whole.

Causes of

Often the nervous branch begins to become irritated due to compression due to various problems with the vessels of the head, the growth of tumors. However, such pressure is not the only cause of pain, neuritis can also develop in the following cases:

1. Viral infections. Most often this disease develops after herpes, the virus very often affects the functioning of the facial nerve. In this case, develops herpetic neuritis of the trigeminal nerve, this is one of the most common complications. Also, cases of neuralgia after meningitis are common.
2. Subcooling and injury. In case of strong exposure to low temperatures on the ear part of the head or the side of the face, neuralgia may occur. Also, to provoke compression of the nerve and pain can be a mechanical trauma, it leads to traumatic neuritis of the trigeminal nerve.
3. Dental treatment and other manipulations in the mouth. Often there is a neuritis of the trigeminal nerve after the removal of the wisdom tooth, as the impact on these teeth is quite difficult, their roots are usually too massive and long, can affect the muscles and nerves. In this case, develops odontogenic neuritis of the trigeminal nerve.

These are the main causes of neuritis. Various facial trauma and allergic reactions can also affect the onset of this disease, the appearance of the first pain attack. Regardless of the causes of the disease, you need to start treatment as soon as possible.

Symptoms of

The main symptom of neuritis of the trigeminal nerve branches is a strong pain of a shooting character that spreads in the direction of the branches from the temple to the lower jaw from one side of the face where the affected branch is located. However, such pain sensations are not the only sign of damage to the nervous branches. The following symptoms may also occur:

1. Distortion of mimicry, facial features. Usually lowered corners of the eyes, eyelids, corners of the mouth, creates a feeling that the face is warped.
2. Twitching, muscle cramps in the area of ​​the affected nervous branch.
3. It is possible to raise the body temperature to a small level - 37 - 38 degrees Celsius.
4. General weakness, cold symptoms, chills may occur, if the cause of the lesion is hypothermia.
5. The onset of headaches, dizziness.

A skin rash can also occur on the side where the nerve is affected. In addition, there may be a feeling that your teeth are aching. In this case, when examining the dentist, there will be no diseases of the oral cavity.

Pain in neuralgia can be pulsating, spreading to the neck and back of the neck. However, this picture in the disease is not quite typical, the localization of pain on the front of the head, face is more common.

Also, the pain may be unstable, they can come seizures with a clear peak of gain, after which they stay for a while. If the disease occurs without a period of pain, this neuralgia is much more difficult to treat.

Important! Without timely treatment, changes in facial expressions and facial contours can become permanent.

How to treat neuritis

Treatment should begin immediately after the detection of the disease, the more time passes, the more likely the development of complications. First of all, the intake of various drugs, the following are commonly used:

• painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, including Tramadol, Diclofenac, Ketanov, Celebrex;
• drugs that relieve muscle spasm, for example, Sirdalud;
• glucocorticoids that relieve inflammation and swelling of the affected nerve, for example, Methylprednisolone;
• vitamin complexes, vitamins of group B are especially important;
• if neuritis is caused by the herpes virus, antiviral drugs are used, for example, acyclovir.

Usually medication is combined with physiotherapy procedures. With neuralgia, electrophoresis, UHF, magnetotherapy is used. Regular procedures and medication should be observed. Massage is also used.

If there is no effect from conservative treatment, surgical intervention is required. To surgery resorted to in extreme cases, with the development of complications.

How to massage

Massage will help relieve muscle tension and pain, it can be done at home. It is important to be careful not to damage the affected nerves. As a result, blood circulation will improve, pain will decrease, and the process of recovery will accelerate.

A massage is usually done. It is necessary to take the position sitting, head should be thrown back on the headrest, neck relax. The muscles of the neck are rubbed with light massaging movements, then it should be raised higher. Then point to the muscle first from a healthy part of the face, then go to the patient. With increased pain, massage should be stopped.

Treatment with folk remedies

For neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve, it is recommended to use medicinal herbs, for example, chamomile. You should brew a weak infusion, one glass of dried herbs needs a glass of hot water, insist for half an hour.

The received infusion should be impregnated with a small piece of bandage or any cotton cloth, apply the compress to the site of pain localization. Before the compress, the infusion should be cooled. Also chamomile tea is useful to drink to maintain immunity. For a compress chamomile can be replaced by the root of an althaea.

With a combination of conservative drugs and folk remedies, you can achieve the best result. The main thing - do not take breaks in treatment, do not skip the procedure. Also, if complications arise, you need to contact your doctor and discuss a further treatment plan.