Neuralgia is the name given to severe pain coming from a nerve. There are two types of neuralgia:
- trigeminal neuralgia, and
- postherpetic neuralgia.
Trigeminal neuralgia
Trigeminal neuralgia is sudden, severe facial nerve pain. It can be described as a stabbing, shooting or electric shock-like pain in the face, and can last for a few minutes at a time.
In most cases, trigeminal neuralgia only affects one side of the face; only 3% of people with trigeminal neuralgia have pain on both sides of their face.
Trigeminal neuralgia is rare. In the UK it affects four or five people out of every 100,000 each year. However, as it can sometimes be difficult to confirm a diagnosis of neuralgia, this figure may be higher.
Almost twice as many women are affected by trigeminal neuralgia as men. It becomes more common with age, and is rare among people under 40.
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic condition that often gets worse over time. The symptoms can be treated with medicines to ease the pain, although in some cases surgery may be needed.
Postherpetic neuralgia
Postherpetic neuralgia is constant and severe nerve pain. It can sometimes occur as a result of shingles.
Shingles is an infection caused by a virus called varicella zoster, the same virus that causes chickenpox. It usually affects the nerves of the chest and abdomen, causing pain and a rash on one side of the body.
In most cases, shingles lasts two to four weeks. If the pain caused by shingles continues for longer than this after the rash has healed, it is known as postherpetic neuralgia.
In adults, postherpetic neuralgia is the most common complication of shingles. It is difficult to estimate how many people are affected as there are many varying definitions of postherpetic neuralgia, depending on the time it takes to develop and the length of time someone has pain for.
Research has estimated that approximately 20% of people with shingles will go on to have postherpetic neuralgia.
This type of neuralgia is not common in children. The risk of developing it increases with age.
Postherpetic neuralgia sometimes resolves (gets better) after a few months, but the symptoms can last longer than this. Medicines and treatments are available that can ease the symptoms, but they may not relieve the pain completely.