Also called trigeminal neuralgia, this is a neurologic condition of the trigeminal facial nerve, characterized by paroxysms (sudden outburst) of flashing, stabbing pain radiating along the course of a branch of the nerve from the angle of the jaw.

Trigeminal neuralgia is the most frequent of all neuralgias and results from dysfunction of the fifth, or trigeminal, cranial nerve. It is often caused by degeneration of the nerve or by pressure on it.

Any of the three branches of the nerve may be...