I did something for the first time recently — I joined a support group. Two, in fact, on Facebook, run by people suffering from something called trigeminal neuralgia.
TN is a little-known condition that delivers hydrogen bomb size pain to those it afflicts; a pain so difficult to describe I often resort to admitting, "I wouldn't wish it on Hitler," and mostly mean it.
The "suicide pain," as it's also known, involves the trigeminal nerve in one or more of three branches that cross the upper, middle, and lower parts of the face, on each side. For better and worse it is impervious to opioids, and virtually every convention of pain solution. The culprit appears to be a blood vessel, putting pressure on the nerve at its root. Why is unclear. As a neurologist explained to me, "It could be the result of damage caused by an early virus, or maybe head trauma, but the truth is, we just don't know." In any event, the point here is not etiology, but this: visceral pain of such magnitude is a great equalizer, underscoring the truth that we're all created equal. It is, to put it mildly, a lesson learned the hard way.
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