PAIN KILLER

In a space not bigger than a modest 2BHK flat in Pune, neurosurgeon Dr Jaydev Panchawagh runs a clinic dedicated solely to treat patients of the "deadliest pain known to mankind". Confounded and desperate patients approach him complaining of recurrent episodes of "devastating pain", mostly around the jaw and forehead. It feels as if a drilling machine is piercing through their head, they tell him.
"It is extremely bad," says Anik Nanda, a patient of Panchawagh. "It makes you want to die, renders you completely hopeless and drained out. It is like a mad dog that keeps hounding you whenever it feels like.
Even in its absence, you anticipate its next strike." He was 24 when the pain first struck him. He lived with the pain for seven years before getting treatment at Panchawagh's clinic in 2019. "The first time it felt like an ache, but it kept getting intense and frequent, spreading all over the left side of my face in no time," he recalls.
"I became a zombie, living half a life." He approached numerous doctors, including psychiatrists, dentists and ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialists and took many medicines, all of which failed to provide relief. The solution came through microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery, which involves opening the skull and inserting a tiny sponge between the compressing vessel and the trigeminal nerve so as to create a buffer between the two, thereby fixing the root cause of the pain and also preserving the nerve. Panchawagh has so far conducted close to 800 such surgeries.
The pain in question is medically called trigeminal neuralgia. Nanda was not exaggerating when he said that the pain makes you want to die-trigeminal neuralgia is also known as 'suicide disease' because many patients develop suicidal tendencies. It is estimated that one in 15,000 to 20,000 people worldwide have trigeminal neuralgia and it is twice as common in women than in men. It usually affects people over the age of 50.
Denne historien er fra July 28, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 28, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på

Wheelchairs and miracles
They are sending that Tharoor fellow for the phoren bijit. Surely you know as many big words as he does, no?” asked Misser Ji, my neighbour.

I find it difficult to revisit my work
Tucked away on a narrow lane behind Chennai’s upscale Greenways Road, the Madras Talkies office exudes the same aesthetic and visual artistry as Mani Ratnam’s films. Journalists, TV crews and assistant directors crowd the front office, eager to catch a glimpse of the director a day before the release of Thug Life. The office, flooded with natural light, feels as vibrant as his work. Young staff, fashionably dressed and reminiscent of his movie characters, discuss their mentor, “Mani Sir”.

Sindoor and India's new normal
Leading one of the seven outreach groups which travelled to 33 countries to communicate India's new normal on Pakistan-backed terrorism was an eye-opening experience. I have had the honour of leading many such delegations in the past, but this one stood out.

The eighth nerve
Nothing is coming,” Aaftab said in broken English, tapping on his ear and shaking his hand to denote his loss of hearing. Fluent only in Arabic, he had travelled from Oman because he had been told that his tumour was too big and in a precarious location, and that there was a significant risk to life.

SILENT KILLER
Seventy-two countries have banned asbestos, a known carcinogen. India is not one of them

We are not another Pakistan
INTERVIEW - MAHFUJ ALAM adviser to the ministry of information and broadcasting, Bangladesh

LESSONS FROM SINDOOR
While India's military actions on May 7 and 10 were successful, it is vital to assess strategic and tactical lessons and shortcomings

Banker’s gamble
Bangladesh’s political future will depend on how well Muhammad Yunus and the interim regime he heads brave the dissent at home and pressures from abroad

Cultural weave
Tibetan Muslims in Kashmir carved out a space for themselves by blending two rich cultures, all while dealing with statelessness and economic hardship

THE CRAFT OF CALM
Anavila Misra on her new collection, a launch into home textiles and why living in a bubble has many merits