Anesthesia Dolorosa

Anesthesia Dolorosa Awareness Day

The First Annual Anesthesia Dolorosa Awareness Day is Today, October 17th, 2017.

Anesthesia dolorosa (AD) and trigeminal deafferentation pain (TDP) are two types of pain associated with the trigeminal nerve, unique in that they are caused not by a vascular compression, but by damage to the nerve. Dreaded even among trigeminal neuralgia sufferers, both are often intractable and resistant to treatment.

The Difference Between AD and TDP

AD is characterized by:

  • total, one sided, facial numbness from the chin to the top of the head, ear to facial midline
  • severe and constant deafferentation pain in the same area

TDP is only slightly different from AD in fact that the numbness is not always 100%.

Raising awareness of these conditions is an easy way to have a major impact. AD and TDP are virtually unknown, even within the facial pain community. You could very easily share this post on social media today, and reach someone who has AD or TDP and had never heard of either of them before.

You could change a life today, and all you have to do is post the link to this post on Facebook.


VIDEO AWARENESS TOOLS

There’s nothing quite like a short YouTube video to help spread knowledge of a condition. Feel free to use this one to educate your friends and family. YouTube videos can be shared online, in emails, and in text messages.


FACIAL PAIN FRIENDLY RECIPES

Brunswick Stew

Sometimes, a more involved recipe is worth it when you can make a lot ahead of time and freeze it to heat and serve later! When you’re finished making the stew, simply measure 1 cup of stew into several individual ziploc freezer bags, labeled with date and type of stew, and freeze for the bad days. When ready to use, thaw one freezer bag inside a bowl of hot water for 3-5 minutes then reheat over stove top or microwave.

Place the pork and chicken in a 1 1/2 gallon stock pot with enough water to cover. Cook at a medium simmer for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender, skimming occasionally. Remove the meat to a bowl and reserve the stock. Meanwhile, in a separate large stockpot, do the same to the beef. Remove the beef and discard the broth.

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with water and simmer until tender.

Remove and discard the bones and skin from all of the cooked meat, pull apart or cut into chunks and process in a food processor or meat grinder until ground. Put 2 pints of the reserved pork and chicken stock into a 1 1/2 gallon stock pot, reserve the rest for another use. Add the ground meats to the stock. Dissolve the black pepper and the cayenne pepper in 1 tablespoon water, and add to the stew.

Add to the onion and tomato to the food processor, process well and add it to the meat mixture with the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Process in the food processor the cooked potatoes, then add to the stew, stirring until any lumps are removed. Stir in the salt. At this point, the stew should be soupy not watery. If the stew is too thick to stir easily with a flat spatula or pancake turner, thin it slightly with more reserved pork and chicken stock. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring constantly.

Puree and add the corn, then continue to cook the stew over very low heat for 1 hour, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the stock pot with a flat spatula or pancake turner to avoid scorching.

Recipe courtesy of the Food Network.


UNTIL NEXT TIME, WARRIORS!
GO FORTH TODAY, AND SHARE AD/TDP AWARENESS EVERYWHERE.
TOGETHER, WE WILL BRING FACIAL PAIN  OUT OF OBSCURITY AND INTO THE LIGHT!