Thousands of people suffering from a disabling headache condition could soon be cured by a patch of Teflon implanted inside the brain, The Daily Mail reported. The pioneering treatment is designed to block pain messages along a major nerve, and research suggests it is highly effective.
Data due to be published soon shows that nearly two-thirds of patients who had the procedure are now pain-free. The condition, known as short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache with conjunctival injection and tearing, or SUNCT, affects more than 10,000 Britons. It causes shooting pain on the side of the face, jaw and gums and often makes the eyes and nose stream. Sufferers are predominantly male and over 50.
It is not fully understood why SUNCT occurs, but it is thought to involve a disturbance in part of the brain linked to the trigeminal nerve, which controls sensations of pain in the face.
Julian Belsom, 50, from Folkestone, Kent, is among patients whose lives have been transformed by the operation.
He began suffering from pain in his jaw in 2014. It became so severe that he felt suicidal and was forced to quit his job as a night manager in a Tesco store.
The father-of-two, who lives with wife Annette, eventually had to sell the family home as they could no longer afford the mortgage.
He says of the condition: “It was like an electric shock and a bee sting at the same time. I was in constant pain every day. There was no respite and it stopped everything in my daily life.”
During the procedure, neurosurgeons remove a small piece of skull from behind the ear and carefully separate the trigeminal nerve, near the base of the brain, from the artery next to it.
They then place a small pad of polytetrafluoroethylene – the same substance used to coat Teflon non-stick pans – between the nerve and the artery, to keep them apart.
