From the Publisher

Excerpts from the Introduction

“Welcome to our story of trigeminal neuralgia be you a sufferer, a spouse or relative, a healthcare provider or a lay person who wants to understand more and help. This book provides information that is of equal importance to the patient and the non specialist health care provider. It provides a level playing field for patients and health care professionals to move on within the limits of our current knowledge.

One of the most dramatic changes in 21st century medical practice is in the relationship between physician and patient. This needs to be on an equal partnership, which means that both groups have the same access  and share the same information. The health care professional becomes the manager of the knowledge and helps the patient interpret it so that decision-making is a shared function, although the ultimate decision remains with the patient.

“To those of you who do not have trigeminal neuralgia I hope after reading the text and responding to the illustrations you will have learned something of what sufferers of trigeminal neuralgia go through even when they appear to be indistinguishable in a crowd. We can all offer empathy and help, either in caring for these patients or by supporting much needed research in this area.”

Recovery is possible for many patients with trigeminal neuralgia, a facial nerve disorder said to be the world’s most painful human condition, and for a wide array of other pains that strike the face. Every trigeminal neuralgia and related facial  pain patient is desperate to be free from the horrors of this pain.

This optimistic message is backed up by patients’ experiences and scientific data in a new consumer guidebook titled INSIGHTS: Facts and Stories Behind Trigeminal Neuralgia, by Professor Joanna Zakrzewska of London England.

Dr. Zakrzewska sought input from patients across the United States and Britain, who described their facial pain experience and their search for help in stories and poems. She says it is the patients who best define the pain of trigeminal neuralgia, in words such as “screaming pain, lightning bolts, electrical shocks, sword and fire.” 

The book provides an illustrated roadmap from diagnosis to the best available medical and surgical treatments, as well as a 10-step approach to “moving from patient to person” and practical tips on coping with recurrent pain.

About the author

Joanna M. Zakrzewska is a Professor of Pain in relation to Oral Medicine and an Honorary Consultant at the Institute of Dentistry, Barts and the London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London, England. She is a member of the US TNA Medical Advisory Board and co-founder of the UK TNA and Chairman of its Medical Advisory Board. Among other research she leads a TNA-sponsored and funded research project on the epidemiology of trigeminal neuropathic pain.