Striking Back! The Trigeminal Neuralgia and Face Pain Handbook
GAINESVILLE, FL – A searing iron, a hot poker in the face, an electrical shock striking the jaw and cheek…individuals with the facial nerve disorder known as trigeminal neuralgia (TN) use the language of horror to describe the lightning-quick bursts of pain that afflict them. TN and related facial pain patients, including 15,000 to 50,000 individuals newly diagnosed each year, find themselves dealing with a condition often called the world’s most painful human disease. Immediately they face the challenges of finding reliable information and figuring out which of many medications (mostly anticonvulsants), surgical procedures and alternative therapies are likely to eradicate or relieve their pain. Practical guidance for these patients and their families is now available in a new comprehensive handbook that provides illustrated descriptions of the disease and cues to obtaining an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. The book, STRIKING BACK! The Trigeminal Neuralgia and Face Pain Handbook will be introduced Nov. 11-14 at the Fifth National Conference of the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association (TNA) in Orlando. The association, whose national headquarters are based in Gainesville, FL, is making copies of the book available to the public through its web site at WWW.ENDTHEPAIN.ORG. Real-life experiences of patients, including singer Norma Zimmer, former “champagne lady” with the Lawrence Welk television show, are interspersed throughout the book, providing firsthand accounts of the difficult journeys many patients go through to obtain pain relief. Lead author George Weigel, a veteran newspaper journalist, shares his own ordeal in which he suffered with TN for two and a half years before undergoing successful neurosurgical treatment. Weigel now leads a TN support group in his hometown area of Harrisburg, Pa. Co-author is Pittsburgh neurosurgeon Dr. Kenneth F. Casey, who has treated hundreds of patients with TN and other types of face pain. Casey summarizes the treatment successes and research findings of leading facial pain experts, including Dr. Peter J. Jannetta, a neurosurgeon at Allegheney General Hospital in Pittsburgh, who wrote the foreword to the book. For TN patients and families who want to be well versed on all available therapies, the book defines the potential benefits and limitations of various medications, as well as acupuncture, balloon compression (squeezing the nerve), deep brain stimulation, gamma knife and other stereotactic radiosurgical procedures, microvascular decompression, nutrition therapy, chiropractic treatment, botox injections and glycerol injections. A chapter on “Tips From Veterans” features patients’ reports on benefits derived from cold compresses, hot creams, gum-numbing gels, facial massage, clever sleeping strategies, exercise, humor, meditation and prayer. University of Florida neurosurgeon Dr. Albert L. Rhoton Jr., who has refined surgical treatments for TN, opens the chapter on research with an optimistic forecast: “We’re seeing a lot of advances in medicine, and I think TN is going to become one of the gravestones along the way. This is a problem we’re going to lick.” STRIKING BACK! is printed in paperback by Whitehall Printing Company of Naples, FL. The book includes a glossary of terms related to facial pain and a list of resources for additional information on TN and other related facial pain conditions. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane Boles, Editor and Executive Director/CEO Trigeminal Neuralgia Association 925 NW 56th Terrace, Suite C . Gainesville, FL 32605 WWW.ENDTHEPAIN.ORG Ph. 352-331-7009 or 1.800.923.3608 |
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