Trigeminal Neuralgia from ear infection

[leetracy]

My daughter had an upper respiratory infection, strep throat and after starting antibiotics a few days later developed an ear infection that took two rounds of antibiotics to kick.  When she was almost done with the medicine she started having facial pain on the same side of ear infection.  Has had MRI and taken meds for the neuralgia to no avail.  Seeing Neurologist tomorrow.  My question is why did an ear infection cause this?  Could it be a vascular compression problem?   That would be the easiest to fix with long term results.

[nancy99n]

What medication was she given?  Was she diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia or are you waiting for the Neurologist to confirm?  What type of MRI did she have?  There is an MRI with TN protocol that specifically is looking for a compression of the nerve. A regular MRI is used to rule out a tumor or MS.
My TN manifested first as a tooth ache, then excelarated after a sinus problem. The TN nerve has 3 branches on either side of the face that have sub-branches near the eye, ear, nose, mouth areas.
Tegretol, Gabapentin, or Trileptal are usually used for TN. These drugs need to be slowly increased by the doctor until the pain is controlled.
Let us know how it goes with the neurologist. Be aware that  TN is a rare disease and everything else needs to be ruled out.  I went to 6 different doctors until I found one - a Facial Pain Specialist - that was finally able to help me.
All the best to you and your daughter.