Usually medication in the form of anticonvulsants, such as gabapentin and carbamazepine would be prescribed to help control the number of pain shocks and lessen their severity.
There are essentially three other treatments: (1) glycerol rhizotomy, (2) microvascular decompression, and (3) gamma knife surgery (GKS). Of these, the glycerol rhizotomy, which deadens the trigeminal nerve at the ganglion, requires repetition every couple of years, sometimes more frequently. The microvascular decompression, whether via a large opening of the patient's skull or endoscopically is a delicate operation in which the trigeminal nerve is separated from an offending blood vessel at the root entry zone and teflon pledgets/pads are used to keep them separated. The GKS is the least barbaric and most painless. The trigeminal nerve is bombarded with fine beams of gamma radiation to effectively change the biology of the nerve. The pain shocks may occur but as waves of numbness rather than excruciating, suicide inducing pain.