Illness behaviour and personality in intractable facial pain syndromes

Management of intractable facial pain is often referred to a specialised Pain Relieving Clinic, especially in light of the evidence that psychological factors play a part in the maintenance of the pain. A group of 60 patients so referred were divided into two groups according to diagnosis. The 32 diagnosed as suffering from trigeminal neuralgia were found to be more likely to deny non-pain problems, less irritable, but less convinced that there was a physical disease process responsible for their pain, than the 28 patients with non-neuralgic facial pain. Personality factors did not discriminate between the two groups. The relevance of the difference between these two groups to our understanding of pain is discussed, as is the special place of pain in the face.