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Trigeminal Neuralgia
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Kathy Cooper’s facial pain started when undergoing a dental procedure. She believes the procedure aggravated her trigeminal nerve, which runs along the jaw and is responsible for sensation in the face as well as motor functions like chewing and biting. For the next two years, the left side of Cooper’s face basically ached 24-7.
“Talking was one of the biggest triggers,” said Cooper, a certified nurse anesthetist at Decatur Morgan Hospitals. “If we went out to eat and laughed and talked, I’d have to go home and put a heating pad on my jaw. I spent many nights like that.”
Cooper consulted with an ear, nose and throat specialist, a neurologist, dentist and an oral surgeon to try to pinpoint the cause of her pain, but it was her family doctor who finally solved the riddle and diagnosed her with trigeminal neuralgia – a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal nerve.
Most sufferers experience brief, intense pain triggered by facial stimulation. Cooper’s was more of a continual ache. In addition to a heating pad, Icy Hot cream, Tylenol and ibuprofen provided some relief. “Cold weather on my face made the pain much worse, so winter was a real drag,” she said. In 2018, Cooper’s neurologist referred her to Dr. Jack Gleason at Alliance Cancer Care in Huntsville. Dr. Gleason treats trigeminal neuralgia using stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) –basically, a high dose of radiation delivered precisely to the patient’s trigeminal nerve to break the pain cycle. SRS typically requires a single outpatient treatment lasting an hour or less.
Cooper had read about other trigeminal neuralgia patients getting relief through SRS and was excited to learn that the treatment is now available in Huntsville.
“I can’t say enough good things about stereotactic radiosurgery and what it’s done for me,” she said.
