What TNA UK does
TNA UK is a UK patient charity for people affected by trigeminal neuralgia and facial pain.
Founded in 1999, we support people affected by TN, their families, carers and professionals through practical support, trusted information, education, patient evidence, research engagement and awareness.
Support
Freephone Helpline, e-helpline, Regional Support Groups, Friendship Line, membership and peer connection.
Inform
Clear information and signposting to help people understand TN and prepare for informed conversations about care.
Educate
National webinars, patient education and professional learning that bring specialist knowledge closer to people.
Evidence
Patient surveys, service insight, member feedback and lived experience used responsibly to identify recurring needs.
Influence
Awareness, patient voice and constructive engagement with clinicians, researchers and healthcare organisations.
Different ways to reach us, because TN can make ordinary things difficult
We support people from first symptoms and diagnosis through medication, specialist assessment, surgical and procedural options, severe flare-ups and long-term management.
Speaking can trigger pain. Travel may be difficult. Symptoms fluctuate. That is why support is available by telephone, in writing, online and through local and national communities.
0800 999 1899
Written support when speaking is difficult.
Connection with people who understand.
Human contact for people affected by isolation.
Specialist knowledge without the journey
TNA UK brings clinicians, researchers and other experts directly to patients, families, carers and professionals through national webinars.
They help people understand medication, referral routes, specialist care, surgical and procedural options, research developments and practical aspects of living with TN.
Pain, disability, distance and cost can make specialist events hard to reach.
National online education lets people hear directly from specialists from home.
Turning experience into useful evidence
TNA UK supports ethical research and service improvement. We have funded research, including doctoral research, and we help bring lived experience into research through surveys, helpline insight, Regional Support Groups, member feedback, webinars and patient stories.
Patient evidence
One experience may identify an individual problem. Repeated experiences can reveal patterns worth investigating in diagnosis, medication, specialist access, work, family life and quality of life.
Responsible research engagement
We can help researchers improve patient-facing language and communicate appropriately governed opportunities. We do not sell access to patients or hand over membership lists.
Clinician-informed, patient-led
Our Medical Advisory Board brings specialist clinical knowledge into information, education, awareness and research engagement while TNA UK remains independent and patient-led.
Helping professionals recognise TN earlier
We work to improve understanding among healthcare professionals through education, webinars, patient insight and awareness. Clinical knowledge explains the condition; patient experience shows what happens when recognition or pathways fail. Both matter.
Awareness should lead somewhere
We use patient stories, campaigns, webinars, events, public information and digital communications to make an often invisible condition better understood.
The purpose is not publicity for its own sake. It is earlier recognition, better understanding, stronger research and better care.
Independent. Patient-led. Evidence-informed.
We work constructively with clinicians, researchers, NHS organisations, universities, funders, other charities and appropriate commercial partners where collaboration can benefit patients. We do not exist to promote a particular treatment, clinician, company or institution.
People affected by TN should be supported, informed, heard and taken seriously.
when they need help
when they need answers
when evidence is gathered
when research and services are shaped
throughout the patient journey
TNA UK provides information, support and signposting. We do not diagnose, prescribe or recommend individual treatment.