TN?

Yesterday morning, my husband started complaining of a severe pain in his jaw, left side only. Today, he had to leave work to see his dentist, who took x-rays and performed an exam, but found nothing. The pain comes and goes, but is very severe at times. (He's saying it's a 10 in intensity.) It is only on the left side of his face and sometimes he can feel tingling and burning in his mouth and teeth. He is 31 years old and is almost never complains about pain and rarely even gets sick. That said, you can understand why his new pain is worrying me.

We've found that icing the left side of his face is helping sometimes, but I am thinking we may have to make a trip to the emergency room if his pain gets any worse.

My question is, what specialist should my husband see for further diagnosis and testing? A neurologist?

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Do you recall if your husband had any infections prior to the start of this pain? A diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia can be considered, but we can't hurry on to it. This could also have been a TMJ.

You will have to consult a Neurologist. Trigeminal neuralgia is associated with excruciating pains, which can be brought on by the slightest of touch. The patients don't even shave in that area.

Please let me know if you have any further queries.

Regards