Facial Pain

If you’ve experienced pain in the face, regardless of the duration or intensity, you know just how uncomfortable it can be. Not only does facial pain occur as a result of an acute event or trauma, it can also become chronic and cause long-term issues. Seeking professional help is essential for reducing facial pain and helping to treat the underlying cause of the pain in the first place. The California Pain Consultants team in the Escondido, El Centro, La Mesa, San Diego, Chula Vista areas can help diagnose and treat all facial pain with a goal to provide comfortable and effective long-term relief. 

What is Facial Pain?

Simply put, facial pain is any pain that is felt in the face or forehead. The sensation of pain could present itself as dull and throbbing, or intense and stabbing, and can occur in one side of the face or both. 

Pain that is felt in the face could be caused by a nerve problem, injury, or infection, either in the face or head, or another place in the body. Unfortunately, sometimes the cause of the pain could also be unknown, which makes treatment a little more challenging. 

Due to the fact that facial pain can have many causes and there are many different types of facial pain, a precise diagnosis is essential for effective treatment. 

What Causes Facial Pain?

While there are many reasons why a person might experience facial pain, the four main causes are neuropathic pain, trigeminal neuralgia, headaches and migraines, and atypical pain. 

Neuropathic pain

There are two main nerves that can cause nerve (neuropathic) pain in the face: the trigeminal nerve and the sphenopalatine ganglion. The trigeminal nerve starts near the top of the ear and splits in three directions toward the eye, cheek and jaw, and is the main nerve involved with headaches. The sphenopalatine ganglion is located behind the nose and carries information about sensation, including pain, to the brain. 

The occipital nerves carry messages from the brain through the scalp, and any damage or inflammation to the nerves can lead to occipital neuralgia, which affects the head and the neck. 

Trigeminal neuralgia:

This type of nerve pain is a chronic pain disorder that involves sudden, severe facial pain. It affects the trigeminal nerve, which provides feeling and nerve signaling to many parts of the head and face. Trigeminal neuralgia most most often occurs when a blood vessel presses against the trigeminal nerve, causing piercing pain. Symptoms range from mild to severe facial pain, often triggered by simple, everyday activities like chewing, speaking, or brushing the teeth. The pain could occur in a single burst that lasts for only seconds, or in repetitive bursts that last for hours or days.

Headaches and Migraines:

There are numerous different types of primary and secondary headaches and migraines that can lead to facial pain. Cluster headaches can lead to eye pain, tension-type headaches can cause a steady pain, and migraines can cause severe and throbbing pain, just to name a few. 

Atypical Facial Pain:

Atypical facial pain is a general term used for otherwise unclassifiable pain syndromes of the face. The pain is usually confined to one side of the face and often described as a burning or aching feeling that might affect your teeth, jaw, cheek or ear. It is very difficult to diagnose as there is no clear cause for the pain, but it could be the result of a mental or emotional issue. 

Other common causes could include:

• Herpes zoster outbreak (the virus that causes shingles and chickenpox)
• Traumatic injury to the face
• TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder)
• An abscessed tooth
• Sinus infection
• Chronic muscle pain syndrome
• Mental and emotional issues, such as depression, stress and anxiety

What are the Treatments for Facial Pain?

Successful treatment depends on a successful diagnosis, which is why it’s important to trust a pain management specialist who can accurately diagnose and treat all causes and symptoms of facial pain. The best approach is also most often a comprehensive approach, which allows for both pain relief now and reducing future occurrences of facial pain. 

The most common facial pain treatment methods include: 

• Medications: anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxants and anticonvulsant medications have proven to be helpful for keeping the facial nerves from reacting to stressors. Not only do both over-the-counter and prescription medications help to reduce the feeling of pain, but they can also help to shorten the duration of pain symptoms. 
• At-home comfort measures: ice and heat are helpful for alleviating painful symptoms and inflammation
• Splints: an effective tool for treating TMJ, a splint is a removable dental appliance that covers several or all of the upper or lower teeth with a goal to provide pain relief and ease soreness
• Nerve blocks: due to the fact that the exact cause of facial pain can be difficult to pinpoint, nerve blocks are an incredibly important tool helpful for mitigating pain as well as diagnosing the root cause of pain. The most common nerve blocks used to treat facial pain are trigeminal nerve blocks, occipital nerve blocks and sphenopalatine ganglion blocks. 
• Injections: steroid injections and Botox injections are proven useful for both treating pain and also decreasing the frequency and intensity of migraines
• Neuromodulation: this can be an effective way to control facial or cranial pain that isn’t responding to other treatments or medications. The most common options include spinal cord stimulator or peripheral nerve stimulator, both of which help to replace feelings of pain with electrical pulses that modify and mask the pain signal from reaching your brain.

The best way to treat facial pain is to partner with an experienced pain management specialist who can expertly diagnose the cause of pain, treat the pain symptoms, and prevent future facial pain episodes from happening. If you are currently experiencing facial pain, or have previously experienced facial pain and would like to avoid the pain from occurring again, please schedule an appointment today with the California Pain Consultants team in the Escondido, El Centro, La Mesa, San Diego, Chula Vista areas.