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What is Neuralgia?

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What is Neuralgia?

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Neuralgia is the name given to severe pain coming from a nerve. There are two types of neuralgia: trigeminal and postherpetic.

Trigeminal neuralgia is severe 鈥榮tabbing鈥?pain in part of the face, which can reoccur after several minutes, hours or days. It affects only 5 out of 100,000 people each year, and mostly affects women and people over the age of 50.

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is pain that can happen after having shingles. Shingles is a condition caused by a virus called varicella zoster. It infects nerves in certain areas of your body and causes a rash in bands across your chest and/or back. It can be a painful condition, and when this pain continues after the rash has gone, it is referred to as postherpetic neuralgia. Source(s): http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/art...

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Pain.
toothache.
its a nerve disease, characterized by tingling sensation, pain.
guess
Neuralgia is a painful disorder of the cranial nerves. Under the general heading of neuralgia are trigeminal neuralgia, atypical facial pain, and postherpetic neuralgia (caused by shingles or herpes). The affected nerves are responsible for sensing touch, temperature and pressure in the facial area from the jaw to the forehead. The disorder generally causes short episodes of excruciating pain, usually for less than two minutes and on only one side of the face. The pain can be described in a variety of ways such as "stabbing," "sharp," "like lightning," "burning," and even "itchy". In the atypical form of TN, the pain can also present as severe or merely aching and last for extended periods. The pain associated with TN is recognized as one of the most excruciating pains that can be experienced.

Simple stimuli such as eating, talking, washing the face, or any light touch or sensation can trigger an attack (even the sensation of a gentle breeze). The attacks can occur in clusters or as an isolated attack. Some patients will have a muscle spasm which led to the original term for TN of "tic douloureux" ("tic" meaning spasm and "douloureux" meaning painful in French).

Neuralgia is a form of chronic pain and can be extremely difficult to diagnose. Patients usually show no physical abnormalities, and with the attacks generally lasting a very short time, it can be difficult to reach a doctor before the attack is over. Postherpetic neuralgia is the easiest to diagnose because it follows an obvious cause (shingles).

Neuralgia is rare, especially in those under 30. Women are more likely to be affected than men, and those over 50 are at the greatest risk. In some cases, multiple sclerosis is related to nerve damage, causing the pain, so doctors will likely ask about family history to help diagnose. Nothing unusual can be seen in brain scans, so diagnosis is usually based on the description of the symptoms.

Medication for seizures has shown promise in managing neuralgia, and some people have found relief with surgery, though not always permanent relief.