In 2002, Faye Sims, aged 76, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) following a hospital visit prompted by severe facial pain while in a café in Fairfield, Texas. This pain was identified as trigeminal neuralgia, associated with MS, which is described as extremely intense.
The origins of MS remain uncertain, but it involves the immune system attacking the body's own tissues, specifically myelin, which insulates nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. This process can damage the trigeminal nerve, resulting in severe facial pain.
“My grandmother described it as the most intense pain, like a sharp knife or hot poker in her jaw,” said the granddaughter of Faye Sims. Initially, treatments in Waco were ineffective. Ultimately, her search for effective treatment led her to UTHealth Houston, where she met Dr. John Lincoln, an expert in neurology.
"Her biggest symptom we really wanted to address was the trigeminal neuralgia," said Dr. Lincoln who worked at UT Physicians. "There are several medications that can help with the pain, but she had already tried the medication route. Her MS was at the stage where it would continue to progress, and her pain was only getting worse, so we discussed interventional pain methods.”
Dr. Lincoln recommended gamma knife radiosurgery, a non-invasive procedure targeting the trigeminal nerve to reduce pain transmission. Although Sims experienced initial relief, the pain returned, necessitating further procedures.
“While the presentation of trigeminal neuralgia is not uncommon with multiple sclerosis, bilateral trigeminal neuralgia, where pain presents on both sides of the face, is rare,” stated Dr. Lincoln. He explained that Sims had reached a stage where her symptoms would no longer progress but could not improve either.
New treatments have brought relief to Sims. Dr. Lincoln employed radiofrequency ablation, a minimally invasive procedure using heat to alleviate nerve-induced pain, in combination with medications misoprostol and carbamazepine. Sims underwent this procedure in 2023.
"The pain went away immediately and has not returned. I have been able to live a normal life with my family and now my great-grandbabies," Sims expressed. “Dr. Lincoln put me on the path to get here, and I couldn't be more grateful.”
