Patients with trigeminal neuralgia might get a variety of treatments to alleviate their symptoms. We must first define trigeminal neuralgia before moving on to treatment options.
Trigeminal neuralgia is a type of facial pain that is severe and comes on suddenly. It’s commonly described as a sharp, shooting pain or as if you have been electrified in the mouth. To achieve the best results from trigeminal neuralgia treatment, you must first identify a trigger before getting treatment from a skilled neurosurgeon like Dr Gurneet Singh Sawhney.
Dr. Gurneet Singh Sawhney, one of the top neurosurgeons in India, has a great deal of experience with trigeminal neuralgia treatment. Due to his ability to execute complex spinal surgery, he is also regarded as one of the leading spine surgeon in Mumbai.
Now, let’s know,
How is trigeminal neuralgia diagnosed?
There are a variety of causes for facial pain. Frequently, migraine, post-herpetic neuralgia, cluster headache, and temporomandibular joint disease are misdiagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia.
A neurosurgeon classifies the pain based on facial discomfort’s nature, location, and triggers to confirm trigeminal neuralgia. To identify whether trigeminal neuralgia is caused by neurovascular conflict, multiple sclerosis, or a tumor, reflex tests and a neurological examination with an MRI are required.
What are the available treatments for trigeminal neuralgia?
It’s crucial to remember that, based on the severity of the ailment and the patient’s lifestyle, the doctor will only recommend a treatment they are comfortable with.
The following are some of the several treatment options for trigeminal neuralgia.
Avoiding your triggers:
Once you have identified your trigger, avoiding it is one of the most excellent methods to prevent an attack. For example, some people may have an allergic reaction to spicy meals and should avoid them. Others may be irritated by the cold wind on their faces. In this case, they should wear a cap and scarf when it is cold outside.
Medications:
Medications are used to treat patients with trigeminal neuralgia as the first line of treatment. Anticonvulsants are used to prevent painful sensations from entering the brain, and muscle relaxants minimize the impact of neurovascular conflict. In addition, the doctor may prescribe antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.
Surgery or medical procedures:
Trigeminal neuralgia is a progressive condition that might grow resistant to medicines. Sometimes, the drugs themselves induce adverse effects, causing people to stop taking them. Surgeons may propose surgical or minimally invasive procedures such as radiofrequency ablation, microvascular decompression, or stereotactic radiosurgery in such instances.
Also, if medication fails to relieve your symptoms, you may need to undergo treatment or surgery. Trigeminal neuralgia can be treated using various approaches, which your surgeon will discuss with you in greater detail. These are some of them:
Radiofrequency ablation:
It is a minimally invasive, safe, and successful method for treating drug-resistant trigeminal neuralgia. The results are similar to those obtained with microvascular decompression. Rf ablation has been the procedure of choice in recent years, particularly for elderly patients and those with a high risk of anaesthesia complications.
Using radiofrequency electrical stimulation, this treatment selectively kills nerve fibres associated with pain. A neurosurgeon uses anaesthesia to insert and guide a hollow needle into the trigeminal nerve.
The surgeon applies a modest signal after passing an electrode through the needle to confirm the pain site. Then, the surgeon will anaesthetize the patient again for radiofrequency thermal lesioning after the target nerve fibre is confirmed.
The neurosurgeon heats the nerve fibre selectively with the electrode until it is destroyed and a lesion develops. After the surgery, the patient may have face numbness for a few hours.
Microvascular decompression:
It entails isolating the blood vessels that are squeezing the trigeminal nerve. The damaged trigeminal nerve is either relocated or removed from contact with the blood vessel.
On the side of pain, the neurosurgeon makes an incision behind the ear. Then, the surgeon punctures the skull with a small hole. Further, the surgeon moves the arteries along the trigeminal nerve and cushions the area between the nerve and the arteries.
The majority of the time, microvascular decompression is successful. In rare situations, though, the pain may return. In contrast to radiofrequency ablation, patients do not feel facial numbness. However, there is a risk of hearing loss, facial paralysis, stroke, or other consequences.
Stereotactic radiosurgery:
It is a type of non-invasive radiation that has a high success rate. The neurosurgeon utilizes a highly focused radiation beam to destroy the target trigeminal nerve fibre in this surgery. After a few weeks following radiosurgery, pain relief becomes apparent. The surgery may be repeated if the pain returns.
Please call us @9902579412 or book an appointment online if you have recently been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia and would like to speak with Dr. Gurneet Singh Sawhney, one of the best neurosurgeon in Mumbai, about your treatment options.