Bollywood star Salman Khan, who has been vocal about his struggles with trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic pain disorder that affects the trigeminal nerve in the face, has revealed that he first experienced excruciating pain in 2007 while one the sets of his film Partner with his co-star Lara Dutta.
During his appearance on the first episode of the talk show Two Much with Kajol and Twinkle, Salman said, "I was doing Partner. Lara was there. She removed a strand of hair on my face and I felt pain. I joked that ‘Wow Lara, you're electrifying!' That's when it started."
The 59-year-old actor further shared how the pain made his everyday life difficult. "You've got to live with it. There are a lot of people living with bypass surgeries, heart conditions, and many more. When I had trigeminal neuralgia, that pain used to be... You would not want your biggest enemy to have that pain," he said.
"I had it for seven-and-a-half years. It used to hurt every four-five minutes. It would happen suddenly, while talking... It used to take me about an hour and a half to have my breakfast, and I used to go straight to dinner. For an omelette, because I couldn't chew it, I had to force myself, hurt myself, take as much pain, so I could get rid of the meal," he added.
At first, people thought Salman's pain was related to a dental issue, but it turned out to be something more complex. The actor said he used to take 750 mg of painkillers daily to deal with the condition. The actor mentioned that the pain reduced a bit when he had a "drink or two".
Salman Khan previously spoke about trigeminal neuralgia in the first episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show season three.
"Hum ye jo daily ki haddiyan tudwa rahe hain, pasliyan toot gai, trigeminal neuralgia ke sath kaam kar rahe hain, aneurysm hai brain mein uske bawajood kaam kar rahe hain. AV malformation hai, uske bawajood chal rahe hain (I'm out here breaking my bones every day. Ribs are fractured, I'm working despite trigeminal neuralgia. There's an aneurysm in the brain, I'm still working. There's also an AV malformation, and still, I'm carrying on)" he said.
What Is Trigeminal Neuralgia?
According to Mayo Clinic, trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a chronic pain disorder that causes sudden, severe, and brief electric shock-like pain in the face.
It is caused by irritation or compression of the trigeminal nerve, which sends sensory signals from the face to the brain. Common triggers include light touch, brushing teeth, eating, and even a light breeze, with attacks potentially occurring multiple times a day.
Also Read | Salman Khan Reveals He Is Working "Even With Brain Aneurysm". How Does The Condition Affect Normal Life?
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