Trigeminal Awareness Day

[Silverforte]

There is an affliction known as Trigeminal Neuralgia that affects the trigeminal nerve in a person's face. It causes the person to experience intense, constant, sharp pain in the trigeminal nerve that can be crippling and prevent someone from doing something as simple as exhaling or brushing their teeth to eating or kissing someone they love.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigeminal_neuralgia

A lot of people still aren't aware that this exists and 10 years ago, it was much less widely known even by doctors. The person I've chosen to spend my life with suffers from this problem and I can't so much as kiss her on the opposite side of her face because the pain is so profound that it's like someone taking a sewing pin and carving out a cavity in her teeth. I'm here because I want to support her and the people who suffer from TN.


https://www.facebook.com/events/1267..._id=1274306474

That link is to the facebook group for the Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day. I know I'm probably going to be met with a lot of criticism and trolls here but I'm doing whatever I can to spread this so that it becomes more well known and supported. This is the first ever TN awareness day and it is very important to the people suffering from TN that this become more prevailent in society. Some people who have this have actually been unable to cope with the nonstop, soul-numbing pain that they've killed themselves. It doesn't stop, you can't really cure it with anything short of neurosurgery (which doesn't work completely, or forever) and some of those people who got the surgeries have suffered motorskill loss but knew full well they might and would do anything to fight TN. Said surgery also leaves a spot on your skull open that they cover with teflon and if you ever hit it with enough forced, you die. It's like having a target on the back of your head.

I watch my wife suffer from this every day. If she's outside and a gentle breeze blows past, she cannot enjoy it like us because it will trigger an episode where she has to cover her mouth and brace herself til the episode passes; an episode of intense overwhelming pain that there is nothing that can be done to stop or aid. Things we take for granted she can't ever again enjoy and things she has to do are infinitely more difficult. Brushing her teeth feels like having them pulled every single time, eating food is like someone running a cheese grater across her upper lip, and kissing me is one of the most painful things I could possibly do to her. Some people with the most severe cases of TN have this pain nonstop and it doesn't come in episodes. It's constant. Life is not there for them, it's just pain. Pain medication doesn't help much with this, either. In fact, the medication that exists for TN has very bad side effects and can even cause depression or liver problems. Some medication is not even out of the testing phases.


So you have to imagine that after 10, 15 or 30 years of this, some people just simply cannot take anymore. I know a lot of people on these forums think things like this are just excuses to insult or crack sarcastic internet one-liners but I'm hoping that some of you read this and show support and compassion for the people out there who suffer from TN. Do whatever you can even if that's taking 2 minutes to log into facebook and pressing that like button. Imagine every tiny thing you do that you take for granted being turned into life-altering pain and then sympathize with the people dealing with Trigeminal Neuralgia, if only for today, if only for a minute or two. And... if you're someone who does not have it but is with someone who does, then do whatever you can to understand their pain and make their lives more bearable. Love them, run your fingers through their hair at night so they can sleep, make them warm drinks to soothe their mouths. Don't ever give up on them, they need you.

[THE Bigzoman]

Who ever knew Christopher Nolan's Bane had similar physical problems then the rest of us.

Very interesting read.