Which department should I go to for facial pain

If a person experiences facial pain and external force is not the cause, then there must be a problem with the internal facial nervous system. Therefore, when facial pain occurs, you should go to the hospital in time to check the cause, because the human body has a very complex nervous system distributed under the face, and if you are not careful, it may be related to the brain nerves. If you experience facial pain during a checkup at the hospital, which department should you go to?

Neurology

Facial neuralgia, also commonly known as "trigeminal neuralgia" or "face pain", is easily confused with toothache. It is a type of paroxysmal severe neuralgia that occurs repeatedly in the distribution area of ​​the trigeminal nerve in the face. Trigeminal neuralgia is one of the common diseases in neurosurgery and neurology.

Most cases of trigeminal neuralgia begin at the age of 40, mostly in middle-aged and elderly people, especially women, and are more likely to occur on the right side than on the left side. The disease is characterized by sudden onset, sudden cessation, lightning-like, knife-like, burning-like, persistent, and unbearable severe pain in the trigeminal nerve distribution area of ​​the head and face. Talking, brushing teeth or a breeze on the face can cause paroxysms of pain. The pain is severe during paroxysms and lasts for seconds or minutes. The pain occurs periodically, and the intervals between attacks are the same as those of normal people. Patients with trigeminal neuralgia often dare not wipe their face, eat, or even swallow their saliva, which affects their normal life and work. Therefore, this pain is called "the most painful in the world", also known as painful convulsion.

Clinical manifestations

Facial neuralgia is a disease that occurs mostly in middle-aged people over 40 years old, with women being slightly more likely to be affected than men. It is characterized by recurrent, short-term pain on one side of the face. Each session can last from a few seconds to 1 to 2 minutes. The pain is like a knife cutting, electric shock, needle stabbing or tearing, and is often fixed in a certain branch area of ​​the trigeminal nerve, especially the lower second or third branches. The pain is caused by sensitive areas such as cheeks, corners of mouth, wings of nose and tongue, which can be triggered by a slight touch, like "trigger points" or "percussion points", causing the patient to become depressed, look haggard, and have unclean face and mouth. In severe cases, radiative facial muscle twitching may occur, with the corners of the mouth pulled toward the affected side, called ticdouloureux, and may be accompanied by tearing, runny nose, facial flushing, conjunctival congestion, etc. The course of the disease may be cyclical, with few attacks at the beginning and a progressive increase in frequency. It rarely heals itself, and there are no positive signs in neurological examinations.