Trigeminal neuralgia is a common clinical neurological disease. At present, many hypotheses about the pathogenesis of trigeminal neuralgia have been put forward. The drug treatment of trigeminal neuralgia is one of the hotspots of clinical research, but the curative effect of drug treatment is poor and has many adverse reactions. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has increasingly shown its advantages in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. This paper reviews the pathogenesis of trigeminal neuralgia and the treatment progress in traditional Chinese and western medicine, in order to provide ideas and references for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.