Sympathies to Jim Bolger

Like almost all Nwe Zealanders I had no idea there even was a condition called trigeminal neuralgia, until Jim Bolger revealed yesterday he has been suffering from it.

Quoting Wikipedia:

Trigeminal neuralgia, or Tic Douloureux, is a neuropathic disorder of the trigeminal nerve that causes episodes of intense pain in the eyes, lips, nose, scalp, forehead, and jaw. Trigeminal neuralgia is considered by many to be among the most painful of conditions and has been labeled the suicide disease, due to the significant numbers of people taking their own lives because they were unable to have their pain controlled with medications or surgery. An estimated one in 15,000 people suffers from trigeminal neuralgia, although numbers may be significantly higher due to frequent misdiagnosis.

To describe the pain sensation, patients describe a trigger area on the face, so sensitive that that touching or even air currents can trigger an episode of pain. It affects lifestyle as it can be be triggered by common activities in a patient’s daily life,such as toothbrushing. Breezes ,whether cold or warm, wintry weather or even light touching such as a kiss,can set off an attack. The attacks are said to feel like stabbing electric shocks or shooting pain that becomes intractable. Individual attacks affect one side of the face at a time, last several seconds or longer, and repeats up to hundreds of times throughout the day, or may go on for periods as long as several months or years.

It sounds beyond ghastly, and I am sure many people will be hoping that the surgery is successful in alleviating the symptoms for Mr Bolger.