neuralgia

American  

[noo-ral-juh, nyoo-] / nʊˈræl dʒə, njʊ- /

noun

Pathology.

• neuralgias
  plural

1. sharp and paroxysmal pain along the course of a nerve.

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neuralgia British  

/ njʊˈrældʒɪə /

noun

1. severe spasmodic pain caused by damage to or malfunctioning of a nerve and often following the course of the nerve

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antineuralgic
  adjective
• neuralgic
  adjective
• postneuralgic
  adjective
• preneuralgic
  adjective
• unneuralgic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• neuralgias
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of neuralgia

First recorded in 1815–25; neur- + -algia

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

neuralgia neuralgias

Vaccination, which has typically been recommended for older adults, reduces the likelihood of shingles and lowers the risk of postherpetic neuralgia, or long-term nerve pain that can persist after the rash clears.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2026

Trigeminal neuralgia is usually caused by compression of the trigeminal nerve - which transmits sensations of pain and touch from your face, teeth and mouth to the brain.

From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026

The FDA approved it in 2002 for post-herpetic neuralgia, or nerve pain after shingles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025

Trigeminal neuralgia is a rare chronic pain disorder that affects nerves in the head and face, resulting in severe and sudden pain, according to the National Institutes of Health.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2023

“I am still tortured a good deal with neuralgia and toothache,” Olmsted wrote, “and I am tired and have a growing dread of worry & anxiety.”

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Experience has taught me to agree in general with the opinion of Valleix, that it is a very unreliable agent; the one marked exception to this being the case of ophthalmic neuralgias.

From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis E. Anstie

It need hardly be said that cases of this kind are essentially different, and require perfectly different principles of treatment from neuralgias in which the disturbance originates within the nervous tissues themselves.

From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis E. Anstie

It is also very effective in different neuralgias of a gouty or rheumatic origin, as in ischias, prosopalgia, periostitis, and especially in earache, tearing pains in the ears, and otitis.

From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Edward Pollock Anshutz

We have taken a useful step, however, in separating the true neuralgias from the somewhat indefinite group of diseases to which this title has been given.

From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis E. Anstie

This period is above all things fruitful in trigeminal neuralgias, especially migraine.

From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis E. Anstie

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