Overview
Non-Surgical Facial Pain Relief Treatments
Beyond soreness or discomfort brought on by common mishaps or irritations, chronic facial pain requires medical attention and treatment. Prolotherapy is one treatment option available to patients dealing with facial nerve pain. Dr. Neal Pollack of Milwaukee Pain Treatment Center offers consultations to determine if this is the best option for patients dealing with facial pain.
Common Facial Pain Causes
For a proper diagnosis, it is necessary to identify the pain location, quality of pain, age of the patient, pain timing, and trigger features. Also required is a complete examination of the head, neck, cranial nerves, eyes, ears, and sensory systems. In some cases, MRI studies may be needed. Two common conditions causing facial pain are trigeminal neuralgia and temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ).
TMJ Disorders
TMJ disorders are caused by damage to the jaw and/or muscles producing pain in your head and neck. Blunt force trauma, whiplash, shaking, stress, and teeth grinding can contribute to the development of TMJ. Stress causes subconsciously clenched muscles or jaw joints leading to injury over time. Some people have conditions of subconscious teeth grinding, most common in sleep, which can cause damage to the jaw joints.
In some cases, facial pain may be the result of headaches or migraines. Learn about other causes of facial pain here, including:
- Sinusitis (Sinus Infections)
- Deviated Septum
- Salivary Gland Infections
- Temporal Arteritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Multiple Sclerosis
Symptoms of Facial Pain
Symptoms of Chronic Facial Pain
Levels of pain depend on how badly the structures are damaged and what the cause of the pain is. Trigeminal nerve pain varies from patient to patient. TMJ pain causes painful chewing, stiff jaw joints, and facial inflammation.
Identifiable symptoms for both include:
- Pain is very sharp and spontaneous
- Pain sessions may extend different time periods
- Pain starts mild and increases to severe and then returns to mild, repeatedly
- Pain stays on either one side of the face or a singular location on the face
Treatment for Facial Pain
Some approaches to treatment are:
- Prolotherapy
- Heating and cooling packs
- Night guard for TMJ
- Medications
- Radiofrequency stimulation
- Balloon compression surgery
Night guards and heating/cooling packs only provide temporary relief from the pain. Surgical treatment for facial pain conditions will require general anesthetic and a stay in the hospital. It also carries the risk of changing the appearance of your face.
Prolotherapy is an in-office procedure requiring no expensive hospital trips. Arrange a consultation with Dr. Pollack to determine if prolotherapy is the right treatment for your chronic facial pain condition.
Please call Milwaukee Pain Treatment Center to see how we can help you (414)453-7780.