Introduction to Neuralgia

Neuralgia is characterized by a burning or stabbing pain that follows the path of a nerve. Because it usually occurs in conjunction with nerve damage or degeneration, it is most common in people over the age of 50 (and is more often diagnosed in women than men). Typically, it is classified by the type of nerve involved, the most common diagnosis being "trigeminal neuralgia," which involves intense pain on one side of the face. Although it can be a result of nerve damage or inflammation, the most common cause of trigeminal neuralgia is nerve compression (pressure- in this case from facial blood vessels- that inhibits normal neural pathways). Neuralgia can be a difficult condition to live with, not only due to the debilitating pain, but also because it can be triggered by the slightest external stimuli: such actions as brushing one's teeth or walking in a cool breeze can prompt intermittent bouts of stabbing pain that lasts anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes at a time; sometimes, such episodes can be precluded by a prolonged throbbing sensation.
The easiest form of neuralgia to diagnose is postherpetic neuralgia, which exists in regions of shingles outbreak. Shingles (herpes zoster) arises when dormant chickenpox virus in nerve cells reactivates, causing pain, rash, and blisters. Although the skin usually heals within a month, sometimes pain persists and this is postherpetic neuralgia.
Two other recognized forms of neuralgia include occipital neuralgia and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. The first is pain in the neck, back of the head, or behind the ears resulting from damage, inflammation, or compression to the occipital nerves in the head. The latter, most rare form of neuralgia, is actually more common in men, and involves pain in the tonsils, tongue, or the back of the throat. Similar to the other cases of neuralgia, it is assumed that the pain results from compression of, or damage to, the glossopharyngeal nerve, although the exact cause is unknown.