Hello Bec,

I am familliar with your symptoms. I have many of them as well. When dealing with certain regions in the face, those point to certain cranial nerves. When the eyes and nose are involved, it typically points to the trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve 5 CN V) or facial nerve (CN VII). Pain in the throat generally points to the glossal-pharangeal nerve (CN IX). The teeth and gums are served by the trigeminal nerve (CN V). Although the CN V and VII exit the cranial vault near the ear, a predominance of pain in the ear reflects a neuralgia of a tiny nerve branch call the genicular nerve.

How does this little nerve effect the other regions that you are having pain? All 4 of these nerves send messages to the brain through the same ganglion. Think of it like an old telephone operators switchboard. All of the afferent signals (sensory messages going to the brain) from these nerves are going through the same switchboard. Even though the primary problem is with the genicular nerve, sometimes the wires get crossed and the brain recieves the sensation as if it came from another nerve.

The crossed signals make the problem even more difficult to diagnose. I went on with this pain for more than 10 years before being properly diagnosed. Unfortunately, medications are not very effective in treating this kind of pain. I would recommend (if you are still having these symptoms) finding a neurosurgeon recommended by the Facial Pain Association. That is how I got the proper diagnosis. Their web site has a state by state directory.

I hope this is helpful, or that you have already been helped.