Facial pain

I was reading one of the forums and it seemed very similar to my syptoms (symptoms). That is facial pain on left side of face which i have had for well over 30 years. It started when i was in my early twenties. A slight numbness and dull ache on the left side of my face about an inch from the bottom of my nose on a vertical plane. This feeling is continuous, but at time worsens. When it started i had brain scans which showed nothing abnormal. After years of trying to find out what is was and getting nowhere, and the doctor telling me i have to put up with it that is what i have been doing. The pain is worst when i am under stress. When it gets bad it aches at the back of the head as well. Although i have had my sinuses checked 30 odd years ago. Could it be sinus related or problem with a tooth. My left nostril seems to block up when i am lying in bed and when i have a cold it is very painful on my left side only. Have tried anti congestants to no avail.

[tjj3761]

Hello,

Sorry about your pain symptoms.

I have trigeminal neuralgia myself.  When mine started, I thought it was a bad tooth, so I went to the dentist.  As I was having my tooth extracted, I felt sharp stabbing pain in my upper gum area.

After this, it just got worse.  It felt as if someone was prying my upper teeth out with a crow-bar.  Eating and talking, as well as stress brought the pain on.

I do have an underlying neurological disease as well.  My neurologist placed me on gabapentin or Neurontin for the neuropathic pain.  This greatly helped relieve the TN.

I do not know if any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, but I just wanted to let you know.  This is a disease of the fifth cranial nerve.

If you need any further information, I will be glad to forward some to you.

terri

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Hi, Welcome to Medhelp Forum, Hi, Thank you for your question. The symptoms you are describing bear resemblance to few possibilities like facial nerve palsy, trigeminal neuralgia MPDS( myofacial pain dysfunction) and then TMJ disorder due to strenuous opening of mouth for long sittings of RCT. Facial nerve palsy is characterized by inability to close eye, loss of sensation on affected part, difficulty in speaking and mask like face on affected side because facial nerve innervates facial muscles and any damage to facial nerve may cause inability make facial expressions like smiling, frowning etc. Second possibility is Trigeminal neuralgia - neural pain of face with possible loss of sensation on the affected part of face but eye is seldom involved. It is usually associated with history of traumatic extraction of ipsilateral tooth. Third possibility can be sinusitis due to possible oro-antral fistula after extraction leading to sinus infection. This may lead to dull pain over the cheek area but inability to close eye and tongue involvement may not be explainable with this condition. You may consult an oral surgeon/physician/ neurologist to rule out above stated possibilities who may be able to help you in this regard. Take care.