Neuralgia is a medical condition which results in spasmodic, chronic pain along a single nerve or group of nerves in the head and/or neck. Several main types are identified: trigeminal, postherpetic and occipital. More rarely, a person may be afflicted with glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Treatment depends upon type and cause and varies in success.
 
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) begins with very painful, sharp spasms on one side of the face. The forehead, eyes, scalp, lips, nose or jaws can be affected, since the trigeminal nerve serves all these places. The trigeminal nerve, located in the cranium, is so named because it has pathways to three different areas of the face: ophthalmic, maxillary and mandibular. Initially, the spasms may occur infrequently, sometimes with several months between paroxysms. Ultimately, the area of pain will become hypersensitive and spasms will occur with greater frequency, until the simplest of activities, like eating or washing the face, may trigger an attack.