neuropathic pain as a successor to Neurontin (gabapentin). High doses of anticonvulsant medicines—used to block nerve firing— and tricyclic antidepressants are generally effective in treating neuralgia. If medication fails to relieve pain or produces intolerable side effects, surgical treatment may be recommended. Neural augmentative surgeries are used to stimulate the affected nerve. By stimulating the nerve the brain can be "fooled" into thinking it is receiving normal input. Electrodes are carefully placed in the dorsal root and subcutaneous nerve stimulation is used to stimulate the targeted nerve pathway. A technician can create different electrical distributions in the nerve to optimize the efficiency, and a patient controls the stimulation by passing a magnet over the unit. Some degree of facial numbness is expected after most of these surgical procedures, and neuralgia might return despite the procedure's initial success. Depending on the procedure, other surgical risks include hearing loss, balance problems, infection, and stroke. These surgeries include rhizotomy (where select nerve fibers are destroyed to block pain) and Microvascular decompression (where the surgeon moves the vessels that are compressing the nerve away from it and places a soft cushion between the nerve and the vessels). History The earliest cited instance of the term is the French, névralgie, which, according to Rowland, was coined by François Chaussier in his 1801 Table Synoptique de la Névralgie, for "...an affection of one or more nerves causing pain which is usually of an intermittent but frequently intense character". The features and assumed etiology found in the medical literature have varied significantly over time. Various locations were proposed for the primary lesion during the nineteenth century, including nerve roots, ganglia, trunks and branches, as well as the brain and spinal cord. In 1828, JC Warren and TJ Graham placed the cause in the trunk or branch of the nerve innervating the perceived site of the pain, though Graham also attributed neuralgia to "morbid sensibility of the nervous system" due to "great disorder of the general health". Teale in 1830 and many after him argued that it may be located in the spinal cord or nerve root. Later in the century some proposed it may be an affliction of organs such as the uterus or liver, while others classed certain headaches as neuralgias, and proposed that emotional distress may promote the condition. Society and culture In R. C. Sherriff's play Journey's End, the character Hibbert lies about having