For What Kinds Of Facial Pain Should I Seek Medical Attention?

— -- Question: For What Kinds Of Facial Pain Should I Seek Medical Attention?

Answer: Facial pain can come from a number of causes. Probably the most common is a headache or a sinusitis, which can be diagnosed by your family physician based on presence of infection in the sinusitis or based on the history of headaches and the type of headache. Migraine headaches might require specialized care if they're not easily managed.

A second type of facial pain we see is lancinating which is horrible terrific pain that comes for a short period of time from trigeneral neuralgia or postherpetic neuritis. This needs to be treated by a pain specialist, and it can be helped.

And finally, the third thing that would really need immediate care would be if you had facial pain associated with numbness and motor changes such as asymmetrical droop of the eyelid, droop of the mouth. This could be associated with a central pain state from a stroke or a TIA, or transient ischemic attack.

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