I have had pain in my left eye for about a year now. I had my eyes tested & they were fine. I told my NS about it, but he said the pain runs up the back of your head from your neck, to your fore head & to your eyes. Seriously, when don’t I have a head ache & neck strain with TN! Anyway, my left eye always hurts as if there is pressure on it & it feels very tired & gets red. I some times use eye drops. Can some one please tell me what it’s like to have it?
Hi, Sally... Occipital neuralgia presents as pain in the back of the head, sometimes on one side and sometimes on both. Pain may extend down the neck to the bridge of muscle at the shoulders. Similar processes are involved to those which cause trigeminal neuralgia, but a different nerve is affected. Pain "in" or "behind" the eye is usually trigeminal pain (5th cranial nerve). Headache is a different neurological process, though migraines are sometimes co-morbid with TN. Many patients have pain solely on one side of the face, and not necessarily from the line of the jaw all the way up to the hairline. There are three branches of the trigeminal nerve and any of them can be involved.
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Go in Peace and Power
Red Lawhern, Ph.D.
Resident Research Analyst, LwTN
Thank you Red, I’m happy that we have your expertise to help us. I feel as though I get more information from you & the other patients on this site, than I do from my Doctors. I love medicine & I started my nursing degree, but had to defer because I had to have another craniotomy. Some times I feel as though I have to explain medical information to doctors! My doctor said he loves talking to me. I’m his favorite patient & he finds me fascinating because he learns from me. If I had my life over again, I would be a surgeon! Thank you Red.