If you've searched online for private medical insurance that covers trigeminal neuralgia then you are most likely for looking for established UK based health insurance companies that can cover your trigeminal neuralgia.
Our advice when looking for private medical insurance that covers trigeminal neuralgia is to speak to a insurance broker. Health insurance is incredibly complicated and if you want absolute certainty that trigeminal neuralgia is covered you should consult with a medical insurance broker who can explain which policy providers will cover this medical condition and which will not.
There are many advantages to using a insurance broker but the biggest by far is that you're using their industry experience at no cost. They are paid by the insurer (Aviva or Bupa etc) rather than by you so it costs you no extra to use their brokering services.
- Do you live in many different postcodes? Some will give you a lower policy premium than offers. A insurance broker will be able to advise whats best.
- Do you have a hobby that may invalidate your insurance claim? A broker will know this critical information.
- If you are a couple and one of you has claimed on your insurance policy this year would it be cheaper to separate you both onto two different policies?
- You've developed a certain condition and want to know which insurer offers the largest amount of cover for it. A broker will know this instantly saving you so much time and effort.
You can call around every health insurance provider on the market and ask if they cover trigeminal neuralgia, however this will be a very time consuming process. Each insurer will ask for your medical history because its not normally a simple yes or not if a medical condition is covered or not.
Its much quicker to speak to one health insurance broker which will know which policy providers on the market cover trigeminal neuralgia and under what terms they do or don't cover it.
Trigeminal Neuralgia Information
Trigeminal neuralgia is a sudden, severe facial pain, described as sharp, shooting or like an electric shock.
It usually occurs in sudden short attacks lasting from a few seconds to about two minutes, which stop just as abruptly.
In the vast majority of cases it affects part or all of one side of the face, with the pain most commonly felt in the lower part of the face. Very occasionally it affects both sides of the face, but not normally at the same time.
People with the condition may experience attacks of pain regularly for days, weeks or months at a time. In severe cases, attacks may occur hundreds of times a day.
It's possible for the pain to improve or even disappear altogether for several months or years at a time (known as a period of remission), although these periods of remission tend to get shorter with time. Some people may then go on to develop a more continuous aching, throbbing and burning sensation, sometimes accompanied by the sharp attacks.
Typically, the attacks of pain are brought on by activities that involve lightly touching the face, such as washing, eating and brushing the teeth, but they can also be triggered by wind (even a slight breeze or air conditioning) or movement of the face or head. Sometimes, the pain can occur without any trigger whatsoever.
Living with trigeminal neuralgia can be very difficult and it can have a significant impact on a person's quality of life, resulting in problems such as weight loss, isolation and depression.
Read more about the symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia
You should see your GP if you experience frequent or persistent facial pain, particularly if standard painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen do not help and a dentist has ruled out any dental causes.
Your GP will try to identify the problem by asking about your symptoms and ruling out conditions that could be responsible for your pain.
However, diagnosing trigeminal neuralgia can be difficult, and it can take a few years for a diagnosis to be confirmed.
Read more about diagnosing trigeminal neuralgia
In the vast majority of cases, trigeminal neuralgia is caused by compression of the trigeminal nerve. This is the largest nerve inside the skull, which transmits sensations of pain and touch from your face, teeth and mouth to your brain.
This compression is usually caused by a nearby blood vessel pressing on part of the nerve inside the skull.
In rare cases, trigeminal neuralgia can occur as a result of damage to the trigeminal nerve, caused by an underlying condition such as multiple sclerosis (MS) or a tumour.