In my youth, I had a period when I was terribly tormented by sudden pain in the superciliary and temporal areas on the left side of the face. The pain came almost suddenly, and after a while (very short) it became just terrible - it hurt not only the temple and forehead, but also began to give into the eye, from somewhere inside. I drank a handful of painkillers, but it didn’t always help, only if you had time to take a pill at the very beginning, otherwise an hour or more pain did not pass. Since there was a graduation class, and further it was necessary to prepare for admission to a university, the visual and mental stresses, of course, were increased, and I attributed everything to it.
If an attack of pain made me at home, then, after drinking a pill, I just lay down and covered my head with a pillow, not knowing how to relieve this pain, which at times was so strong that not only tears welling up, but just wanted to scream. I also noticed that when I put a palm on a sore spot (I always always wanted to press my palm against a closed eye, covering it with an eyebrow), it seemed to get a little easier - that is, dry heat helped (maybe that's why I put my head under the pillow under the pillow )
Until the pains were quite rare, I refused to go to the doctor, but when they began to recur every day, and sometimes several times a day, I still had to go to the clinic. However, when I was examined by an ophthalmologist, nothing was revealed in relation to the eye, and I was then sent to a neurologist. Then, for the first time, I heard that most likely the trigeminal nerve was inflamed.
What is trigeminal nerve?
The trigeminal nerve is one of the twelve paired cranial nerves (more precisely the fifth), they are located on both sides of the face (one on the right, the other on the left in the temporal region) and each of them further branches into three branches. One of the branches (upper) affects the sensitivity of the frontal region, upper eyelid and eye - the so-called orbital nerve. The next branch - the maxillary (zygomatic) nerve - approaches the lower eyelid, cheeks, nostril and reaches the upper lip and upper gum. The third - the mandibular nerve - leads to the lower jaw, lower lip, gums and some masticatory muscles.
Pain usually occurs on one side, in the upper, middle, or lower part of the face, and depends on which branch of the trigeminal nerve is affected.
An irritated trigeminal nerve causes terrible pain, this is true, but, nevertheless, in each case it is necessary to deal with it individually. It can be neuralgia, neuritis, and inflammation of the trigeminal nerve, or it can be caused by another disease that indirectly affects the affected area, so to say for sure that the trigeminal nerve hurts is sometimes difficult even for doctors.
Very often, when pain begins in the upper or lower jaw, a person thinks that it is connected with the teeth, goes to the dentist, treats the teeth, but the therapy does not relieve the pain.
Now doctors often propose to do an MRI of the brain with a vascular program in order to better understand the causes of pain.
In some cases, when nerve compression is detected by the artery, an operation is indicated - the so-called decompression of the trigeminal nerve (that is, elimination of the constant compressive factor).
Then, more than 20 years ago, along with drug therapy, I was prescribed physical treatment. Pain for some time became less frequent, but finally did not go away right away. While studying at the institute, I still periodically experienced sudden attacks, and even went to acupuncture. I’m still wondering what kind of disease it was (since the doctors didn’t give me the final verdict then), but after a while the pain stopped as if by itself. But as I recall what I had to experience then - you won’t wish the enemy!
Many people write that fir oil helps well to relieve pain. A few drops need to be mixed with baby cream and lubricate this area with a sore spot. It supposedly helps in many cases, and with inflammation of the trigeminal nerve, the pain disappears in almost 2 weeks. Perhaps, if there are no contraindications to the use of fir oil, then you can try it on occasion, although I think that if the pain is permanent, it is better to go for an examination to clarify the diagnosis.
Take care of yourself and be healthy!