Table 18 Characteristics of trigeminal neuralgia

In the majority of cases, trigeminal neuralgia is a unilateral condition with ultra-short stabbing pain located along one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve

Onset is most often located to the second or third branch

Onset typically occurs after 50 years of age

The pain is often triggered by stimuli such as chewing, washing of the face, speech, tooth-brushing, shaving and cold winds, but also occurs without any stimuli. Often, there are trigger points in the face

Pain may be intermittent. Consequently, the condition may aggravate or recede completely for weeks to months, and in rare cases, years

Symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia may, e.g. be caused by space-occupying processes of the fossa posterior and by multiple sclerosis. If the cause is pressure from vessels of the cerebellopontine angle, the case is diagnosed as classical and non-symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia