Question

Can glossopharyngeal neuralgia lead to other complications?

Answer 1

Glossopharyngeal neuralgia can lead to other complications which can be severe and life threatening.

The complications that glossopharyngeal neuralgia can lead to are fainting or syncope, slow heart rate or bradycardia, low blood pressure also known as hypotension and cardiac arrest, which is a result of it's interaction with the vagus nerve.

Other complications that glossopharyngeal neuralgia can lead to include extreme weight loss from painful eating, seizures, dangerous arrhythmias and rarely, nerve damage.

The most severe complications from glossopharyngeal neuralgia occur when the intense pai triggers the vagus nerve and leads to fainting, bradycardia and asystole, cardiac arrest, seizures and convulsions and hypotension.

Vertigo and tinnitus can also rarely occur with glossopharyngeal neuralgia as complications.

The main types of neuralgia are trigeminal neuralgia, postherpetic neuralgia, occipital neuralgia, glossopharyngeal neuralgia and intercostal neuralgia.

Intercostal neuralgia, affects the ribs and chest wall.

Glossopharyngeal, neuralgia, produces, often rare, pain in your neck and throat.

Occipital neuralgia involves the nerves from your spine to your scalp and results in intense, throbbing pain at the back of the head or neck.

Postherpetic neuralgia occurs after an outbreak of shingles, and affects the nerve and skin, often leaving a burning sensation.

And trigeminal neuralgia affects the fifth cranial nerve, causing severe, stabbing pain in your face, often triggered by touching or eating.

Causes of neuralgia include infections like shingles, nerve compression in which blood vessels or tumors press on nerves, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, or HIV/AIDS, trauma like injuries or surgical procedures.

Neuralgia can occur in any age, although it's more common in older adults.