What Is Facial Paresthesia?

The left and right sides of the face are consistent in the sensory examination, and the pain and touch are unobstructed.

The skin sensation of the face is mainly distributed by the sensory branch of the trigeminal nerve. The root of the trigeminal nerve is thick, and the cell body is concentrated in the trigeminal semilunar ganglia. Three large and thick stems are emitted from the semilunar ganglia: the eye branch, the maxillary branch, and the mandibular branch. The facial sensory test of the trigeminal nerve is the same as the sensory test of other parts of the body. The content of the test is mainly pain, touch and temperature. The general sensations of the lips, nostrils, mouth and tongue also need to be checked. The feeling on the cornea can be tested with cotton wool.

Name: Facial sensory examination of the trigeminal nerve

category: Neuroelectrophysiology

Normal facial sensory test of trigeminal nerve

The left and right sides of the face are consistent in the sensory examination, and the pain and touch are unobstructed.

Clinical significance of trigeminal facial sensory examination

Abnormal results: When facial pain, temperature, and touch should occur at the same time, it is peripheral damage, and it can occur in any of the three branches of the trigeminal nerve: only facial pain, temperature, and tactile dysfunction. The distribution of central damage is limited to the branch of the eye, or the branch of the eye combined with the maxillary branch, or three branches are affected at the same time. People to be examined: Patients with symptoms of facial pain.

Trigeminal facial sensory examination considerations

Unsuitable people: no contraindications before inspection: maintain a normal diet and schedule. Requirements during the examination: The doctor should try to relax the facial muscles as much as possible during the examination. Don't be overly nervous, actively cooperate with the doctor's work, don't panic when the doctor touches the pain point, and actively report to the doctor his feelings and pain.

Facial sensory examination of the trigeminal nerve

The inspection method is to use needles, cotton wool, and hot water (40-45 ° C) or cold water (5-10 ° C) placed in a test tube. According to the trigeminal nerve, the three branches of the root are distributed on the face, and the left and right sides are felt. Check and compare, and pay attention to whether there are obstacles to pain and touch, and their distribution range, so as to identify whether the sensory disturbance belongs to the trigeminal nerve peripheral (peripheral nerve or nerve root) or central (trigeminal sensory nuclear) damage. Because the distribution of fibers in the peripheral and central parts of the trigeminal nerve is different, you should try to understand whether the sensory disturbance is limited to a certain area or a certain sensation. In the case of peripheral damage, pain, temperature, and touch should be impaired at the same time, and can occur in any of the three branches of the trigeminal nerve. In the case of central damage, there are often only pain and temperature dysfunction, and tactile sensation exists, and its distribution is limited to the branch of the eye, or the branch of the eye combined with the maxillary branch, or three branches are affected at the same time. Rarely, there is a single branch of the maxillary or mandibular branch. This condition is often accompanied by other symptoms of lateral medullary or upper cervical spine damage. When the trigeminal nerve is damaged, in addition to sensory disturbances, there are tender points. The tenderness point is mostly located at the nerve branch penetrating the skull bone hole, such as the supraorbital fora or supraorbital notch of the first branch, the suborbital fora of the second branch, and the sacral fora of the third branch. It is also necessary to pay attention to the presence of special sensitive parts of the facial skin during the examination. The trigeminal nerve pain is induced by lightly touching a part of the trigeminal nerve distribution area of the patient (such as the upper lip, incisors, mouth angle, nose, eyebrows, etc.) point".