World Brain Day 2025: Why Brain Health Must Include Trigeminal Neuralgia and Facial Pain
What if brushing your teeth sent a bolt of electricity through your face?
That is the daily reality for people living with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). This neurological condition causes pain so intense it has been described as one of the worst known to medicine. Yet it remains underdiagnosed, misunderstood, and absent from most public conversations on brain health.
World Brain Day 2025, themed “Brain Health for All Ages,” gives us a crucial opportunity to change that.
What Is World Brain Day?
Organised by the World Federation of Neurology, World Brain Day takes place each year on 22 July. The campaign raises global awareness of brain and neurological conditions, now the leading cause of disability worldwide.
This year’s theme urges everyone to take responsibility for brain health—from prenatal care to ageing populations. It calls for early diagnosis, equal access, and removal of stigma. That includes recognising conditions like trigeminal neuralgia, which affect people of all ages but often go unnoticed.
Why Trigeminal Neuralgia Must Be Included
Trigeminal neuralgia affects the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from the face to the brain. The condition causes stabbing, electric-shock-like facial pain, often triggered by touch, eating, speaking, or even wind on the skin.
Patients describe the pain as unrelenting. It can strike suddenly, many times a day. Despite its severity, TN is frequently misdiagnosed as a dental, sinus, or psychological problem. In many cases, people undergo unnecessary tooth removals or ineffective treatments before anyone refers them to a neurologist.
This delay in diagnosis often leads to isolation, distress, and worsening health.
The Mental and Emotional Impact
Severe facial pain affects more than the body—it profoundly impacts mental health. Multiple studies show that people with TN face increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Some pain specialists have referred to TN as the “suicide disease,” not as an exaggeration, but to reflect its devastating effect on quality of life.
These risks increase when patients feel disbelieved or dismissed. Health systems must respond with empathy, urgency, and appropriate specialist care.
Brain Health Must Include Pain
When health campaigns exclude facial pain, they exclude real people. TN may not be as well-known as stroke or dementia, but it affects how people eat, speak, sleep, and interact. It is disabling in every sense of the word.
This year’s theme—Brain Health for All Ages—must be more than a slogan. It must reflect the needs of everyone, not just those with more visible or better-funded conditions.
What Needs to Change
To ensure TN is no longer neglected, we must:
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Train GPs and dentists to recognise neurological facial pain early
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Expand access to facial pain and neurology clinics across all NHS regions
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Include TN in national brain health strategies and funding frameworks
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Invest in research to develop more effective treatments
These actions would bring not only better outcomes but also faster relief and dignity for thousands of people.
World Brain Day: A Moment for Action
This year’s campaign reminds us that brain health is not just about movement or memory—it’s about how we live. TN takes away confidence, function, and quality of life. By including it in brain health advocacy, we make it clear: these lives matter too.
How You Can Help
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Share this message on #WorldBrainDay #TNawareness #BrainHealthForAll
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Learn the signs of trigeminal neuralgia and help others recognise it
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Support the organisations pushing for better care, access, and research
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Call on policymakers to include TN in brain health policy
By Aneeta Prem MBE
References
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World Federation of Neurology. World Brain Day 2025
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NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary: Trigeminal Neuralgia
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Obermann, M. et al. Psychological impact of chronic facial pain. Journal of Neurology, 2007.