Trigeminal Neuralgia
Trigeminal Neuralgia is a disorder of one of the five facial nerves, the trigeminal nerve. It always occurs on one side and normally affects one or two branches of the trigeminal nerve. The kind of pain it causes is completely different to CMD: it is a sudden, burning, stinging pain like an electric shock and is normally restricted to the proximity of the affected branch of the trigeminal nerve. Trigeminal Neuralgia is a serious disorder that should be referred to a neurologist or pain specialist. The treatment is completely different to CMD treatment.
Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia and CMD shouldn’t be mixed up, because they are based on different diagnostic and therapeutic principles. Moreover, typical interactions of these diagnoses are unknown.