Salman Khan recently opened up about battling trigeminal neuralgia, a painful nerve condition, and revealed details about the eight-hour surgery he underwent to overcome it.
Enduring years of unbearable pain
On Two Much with Kajol and Twinkle, Salman recalled going through the pain for years. He shared, “When I had trigeminal neuralgia, that pain used to be… You would not want your biggest enemy to have that pain. And I had it for seven and a half years.” Elaborating further he added, “And this used to happen every four-five minutes. It used to take me an hour and a half to have my breakfast and I used to go straight to dinner. For an omelette, it used to take me… because I couldn’t… so I used to force myself (to eat),” he said, and recalled that even painkillers wouldn’t help.
Misdiagnosis and first symptoms
Salman revealed that initially, doctors thought the problem was with his teeth. But when they noticed that the pain worsened while he was drinking, they realized it was nerve-related. He recalled first feeling the pain on the set of the 2007 film Partner when Lara pushed a strand of hair from his face. Laughing, he said, “I said, ‘Wow Lara, electrifying!’ That is when it started.”Salman said the pain is gone but recalled, “It is the worst pain. It is called ‘the suicidal disease.’ The highest number of suicides happen because of this condition.” Aamir added, “Because you can’t handle the pain.” Salman explained that he shared his experience to raise awareness, as many people suffer from the condition but few know about it.
Undergoing eight-hour gamma knife surgery
He further stated, “Now it is very easily treatable. There is a gamma knife surgery. They fix screws on your face for 7-8 hours. They make you lie down and with the gamma knife…” he said as he recalled going through eight of surgery. He shared that after the surgery, he was told that his pain might reduce by 20-30 percent but luckily, it went away completely.“Now the aneurysm is there. An arteriovenous malformation is present. But you have got to live with it. There are a lot of people living with bypass surgeries, heart conditions and so many other things,” he concluded.Meanwhile, on the work front, Salman is currently shooting for Battle of Galwan.
