Medicine: Tic Tactics

By doctors and patients familiar with it, tic douloureux or trigeminal neuralgia is considered the most painful of human ills. It is a nerve affliction which usually strikes one side of the jaw, occasionally both. The slightest stimulus on certain "trigger areas" of the face may set off lightning-like flashes of agony. Living in dreadful anticipation of the next attack, victims sometimes go weeks without shaving or washing their faces. Cause of tic douloureux is not definitely known. Tooth and sinus infections, circulatory disorders, sudden changes of climate have all been suspected.*

Various medications have been used for relief of tic, such...

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