Prickly sensation on AN side of face

[suz]

I had retrosigmoid surgical partial removal of my left AN in 2010 then in approximately 2018 had gamma knife treatment because the residual tumor began to re-grow. The gamma knife “surgery” was pretty uneventful and the expected swelling of the tumor has occurred and there is evidence of necrosis within the tumor which is all good.

But over the past 6 months I have had increasing episodes of a prickly pain sensation on the left side of my face when I eat- especially if I chew on that side of my mouth. The sensation begins below my jaw and spreads up through the rest of my face one that side. At times it has subsided to the point that I have not noticed it and other times it’s really uncomfortable. I do not have facial paralysis or any loss of sensation as a result of either treatment.
I wonder if anyone else who has had gamma knife has experienced this?
Suz

[gary.s]

Hi suz,

I have similar pain on my AN side of the face. It is caused by trigeminal neuralgia, because my tumor is pressing against the nerve. I get electrical charges through my face, from my front top teeth, along the cheek and to the eye on my AN side. I have recently had a pretty uncomfortable three weeks with this pain, and now it has mellowed out. I took another MRI to see what is going on. Check with your neurologist to see if the pain is the result of the trigeminal nerve being inflamed or impacted by the radiation. Best of luck.

Gary

[SueLL]

Hi Suz and Gary - I have had very good results with Tegretol for facial spasms and other facial discomfort before and after surgery.  It may be worth a discussion with your doctor as it is not a typical AN prescription, although it has appeared on these pages here and again.  Good luck!