Facial pain: causes and what to do?
Facial pain is characterized by one medical term "prosopalgia". The reasons for their occurrence can be very diverse. To clarify the diagnosis, you need to see a doctor.
Painful sensations in the face can be triggered by the following reasons:
- Irritation of nerve fibers that are located in the face.
- Muscle pain.
- Pain caused by damage to the bone tissue of the sinuses and bones of the skull.
- Pain provoked by inflammation of the skin.
- Pain caused by various diseases, such as migraine or osteochondrosis.
Pain can be concentrated both in one half of the face and over its entire surface.
Content:
- Facial pain associated with muscle damage
- Pain in the face due to damage to its bone structures
- Pain provoked by skin diseases
- When facial pain is associated with neuralgia
- Face pain for no reason
- Facial pain associated with tooth damage
- Vascular pathology
- What to do with facial pain? Treatment methods
Facial pain associated with muscle damage
The face hurts, provided that a person's facial muscles, chewing muscles, and neck muscles are affected.
The following violations can provoke such pain:
- Incorrect bite due to which the chewing muscles, jaws and teeth suffer.
- Frequent emotional upheavals. At such times, people clench their jaws tightly, which causes pain.
- Neurological and mental disorders. At the same time, nerve centers that regulate muscle tone are affected. This can lead to severe pain.
- Osteochondrosis of the upper spine. The pain spreads to the neck, occipital muscles, and facial muscles.
- Received soft tissue injuries. This also includes damage to the temporomandibular joint.
To locate the source of pain, you need to seek the advice of a neurologist. Treatment of such pathologies is reduced to taking sedatives and muscle relaxants. Physiotherapy is effective.
Pain in the face due to damage to its bone structures
The face can be sore when its bone tissue is affected.
The following violations are capable of provoking such pain:
- Osteomyelitis in which the bones of the skull become inflamed. Pathology develops most often due to pulpitis, caries, periodontitis. In parallel, a person's body temperature rises, the face swells.
- Injuries to the bones of the skull. The pain will be intense and may be accompanied by bleeding.
- Temporomandibular joint injury, infection or inflammation. These disorders are accompanied by painful sensations in the face. The intensity and nature of pain depends on the specific etiological factor.
Pain provoked by skin diseases
Facial skin may hurt in the following cases:
- There was a soft tissue injury.
- A malignant tumor - melanoma - develops on the face. Often this neoplasm appears from a mole when its cells are reborn.
- Acne, that is, acne, can hurt. This is especially true for rashes that are located deep under the skin. You can get rid of acne with antiseptic and antibacterial creams and lotions. The skin must be properly cared for.
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An allergic reaction such as Quincke's edema may be accompanied by facial pain. At the same time, a person's eyes and soft tissues turn red and watery. The larynx is very swollen, which can lead to suffocation.
Sometimes facial pain can be associated with causes that are not related to any disease. So, the face and scalp can ache due to wearing too tight elastic bands and hairpins.
When facial pain is associated with neuralgia
With neuralgia, irritation of the facial nerve occurs. He can be subjected to pressure from various neoplasms, dilated vessels, or inflammatory reactions. It also happens that the cause of neuralgia cannot be established.
The pain will differ depending on which nerve is affected.
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Damage to the facial nerve. The facial nerve rarely responds with pain, since it is responsible more for motor, rather than sensory activity. However, if neuritis develops, the person will experience painful sensations on one side of the face. Other symptoms of lesion include impaired facial expressions, facial asymmetry, enlargement of the eye's neck in size, distorted taste, and pain behind the ear. To establish the cause of the pathology, it is necessary to consult a neurologist.
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Trigeminal neuralgia. The trigeminal nerve is the main nerve that controls facial sensitivity. Three branches extend from it. The pain will differ depending on which branch is affected.
The main symptoms of trigeminal nerve damage:
- The pain is paroxysmal, they do not last long - about 2 minutes.
- The person's face seems to prick from the inside. The pain is very intense and makes the patient suffer.
- Pain occurs on one side of the face.
- Pain can radiate to the jaw, neck, ears, and even to the index finger. This largely depends on how and where the person's facial nerve passes.
- If the trigeminal nerve is damaged, the patient may have a twitching face.
- When the attack is over, the person is not bothered by anything.
To clarify the cause of the pain, you need to contact a neurologist. Treatment involves taking antiepileptic drugs and pain relievers. If medical correction does not allow to cope with the problem, then the patient is referred for surgery.
Video: transmission about the most important thing - trigeminal neuralgia:
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Neuralgia of other facial nerves. The human face is also permeated with other nerves. Therefore, pain in this area can be triggered by their defeat:
- Pain in the tongue, face, throat and tonsils develops when the glossopharyngeal nerve is affected. Eating very hot or very cold foods can provoke such a violation.
- Pain on one side of the face and in the larynx region can be caused by damage to the superior laryngeal nerve. In addition, a person suffers from coughing fits, increased salivation, and hiccups.
- The face, as well as teeth, eyes, and jaw, will ache when a person has a pterygopalatine ganglion. At the same time, he suffers from a persistent runny nose, his tears flow, his face swells, his eyes turn red.
- Pain in the face with localization behind the eyes and between them occurs if the nasociliary nerve is affected. The patient changes the size of the palpebral fissure, he is worried about rhinitis. This nerve becomes inflamed very rarely.
All these pathologies are diagnosed and treated by a neurologist.
Face pain for no reason
Sometimes even a comprehensive examination does not allow clarifying the nature of facial pain. In this case, doctors talk about atypical pain.
Such uncomfortable sensations have a number of features:
- Atypical pain is diagnosed mainly in female patients, aged 30-60 years.
- The pain is concentrated on one side of the face, or it can spread over its entire surface. Often, patients cannot even say for sure exactly where their face hurts.
- Pain rarely occurs at night, but increases with nervous tension and overheating.
- The pain is mostly superficial, but its nature may vary.
- It can hurt not only the face, but also the oral cavity, including the tongue and teeth.
- Such pains last for a long time. Periods of exacerbation are followed by periods of calm.
- In the face area, paresthesias may occur.
Experts call the most likely cause of atypical pain a violation of the production of a number of neurotransmitters in the brain. They ensure the normal transmission of nerve impulses. Stress, psychogenic diseases, dental treatment, etc. can provoke an attack of pain.
Facial pain associated with tooth damage
Sometimes a person's face can be sore due to dental health problems.
The following pathologies can lead to such pains:
- Deep caries.
- Pulpitis.
- Periodontitis.
- Periodontitis complicated by abscess.
- Osteomyelitis.
Often the source of pain cannot be identified the first time. Suggesting that it occurs due to damage to the teeth may increase the discomfort when eating too hot, cold or acidic food. An increase in body temperature is possible. The dentist should deal with the treatment.
Sometimes facial pain occurs after a bad tooth has been treated.
In this case, she is able to indicate various complications, including:
Trigeminal neuropathy. It is possible that he was hurt during the treatment.
- Inflammation of the tooth root due to the unprofessional actions of the dentist.
- Accession of a purulent infection.
- Leaving foreign objects in the canals.
- Poor tooth extraction.
You should not endure such pain categorically, you need to contact the dentist as soon as possible.
Vascular pathology
Vascular inflammation can lead to pain in the face. When treating the trigeminal nerve with folk remedies Treatment of the trigeminal nerve with folk remedies, the temporal artery is affected, which provokes painful sensations in the temporal region and in the jaw.
With carotidinia, the carotid artery suffers, which is accompanied by pain in the neck, jaw and ears. On palpation of the carotid artery, the painful sensations increase significantly.
What to do with facial pain? Treatment methods
To eliminate facial pain associated with neurology, you must first of all focus on making the person's condition easier.
For this, the following drugs can be prescribed:
- Hormonal drugs that will quickly get rid of the signs of inflammation. This may be a drug called Prednisolone. It should be used with caution only after consulting a doctor.
- To reduce edema, Furosemide is taken.
- To relieve muscle spasm and reduce the intensity of pain, Analgin or No-shpu is prescribed.
After you manage to stop the inflammatory reaction, you can proceed to the next stage of treatment.
It consists in undergoing physiotherapy, including:
- Ultrasound treatment.
- Passage of a massage course.
- Acupuncture.
- Paraffin therapy.
- Implementation of therapeutic and physical training complexes.
You need to tune in to the fact that it will take a long time to treat diseases of a neurological nature. Sometimes the therapeutic course lasts a year. The prognosis is most often favorable. In 75% of cases, complete recovery is achieved. If conservative therapy has not brought the desired result, then the patient is referred for surgery.
To avoid the development of neurological diseases, accompanied by pain in the face, it is necessary to avoid hypothermia, to prevent injury to the bones and soft tissues of the face. Sometimes even a banal ARVI can become an impetus for the manifestation of neurological pathology with severe pain.
If facial pain develops due to inflammation of the temporomandibular joint, then therapy is reduced to the following steps:
- During treatment, the load on the joint should be minimal. Patients are advised to avoid harsh foods.
- To relieve inflammation and eliminate pain, it is necessary to take medications prescribed by a doctor.
- If necessary, the patient should undergo physiotherapy.
- If conservative treatment does not allow achieving the desired effect, then the patient is shown an operation.
The use of traditional medicine methods allows you to quickly cope with the problem. Compresses can be applied to the inflamed area, self-massage can be done.
Decoctions of medicinal herbs (mint or chamomile) can be taken orally. Calendula is good for treating the face with acne. A decoction of this herb can reduce pain and dry the dermis. Badyaga helps well with edema. To eliminate skin peeling, you can use oils: sea buckthorn or olive.
Video: Why does my face hurt? Explanations of the causes of pain by a neurologist:
Author of the article: Sokov Andrey Vladimirovich | Neurologist
Education: In 2005 completed an internship at the IM Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and received a diploma in Neurology. In 2009, completed postgraduate studies in the specialty "Nervous diseases".
