Hi NoseHurts,
I'm sorry for the reason you have joined us here, but I'm glad you found us. In my opinion, a diagnosis of idiopathic facial pain really sucks! It's so vague. Over time you will hopefully get a better, more specific diagnosis which will lead to more treatment options. Keep following this with your doctor and try to be patient.

I was originally diagnosed with atypical facial pain and it took over two years to be diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia. I have an atypical presentation with constant pain on both sides that moves around. I don't know what caused it. One day it was just there.

I get a lot of pain down the right side of my nose. When I cough, sneeze, laugh or raise my voice it feels like a ball of fire flares up inside my nose and slowly dies down. I guess you, me and Dave have something in common--our noses hurt!

If you're like me, you've probably been doing a lot of internet searching. A lot of what I read about atypical or idiopathic facial pain says it's a psychological problem. I would say that facial pain GAVE me psychological problems. There's no way I could have imagined having something that I didn't even know existed. If you run into a doctor who seems to think your pain is all in your head, run! Make sure whoever is treating you takes you seriously. One of the hardest parts of having an "invisible" illness is not knowing whether or not you are being taken seriously.

This is a good place to get your questions answered and talk to others who understand what you're going through. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. Good luck! Cheryl