Campaign archive reviewed and updated 22 August 2026.
By Aneeta Prem MBE
Trigeminal neuralgia can be severe while remaining almost completely invisible to the people around the person experiencing it.
That was the idea behind TNA UK’s Face of TN campaign: make the condition easier to see, talk about and recognise without pretending that a photograph can show the full reality of neurological pain.
What the Face of TN campaign was
TNA UK’s trustee reporting for the financial year ending March 2023 records the launch of the Face of TN video campaign and says it markedly increased the charity’s online presence.
Minutes from the charity’s 2022 AGM, held in January 2023, also describe the campaign as part of National Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day activity.
The visual concept used make-up and portraiture to represent the branches of the trigeminal nerve and the experience of facial pain. Some members also painted their faces as part of the awareness work.
The imagery was a metaphor for pain. It was not a medical image or diagnostic tool.
Why visibility matters
The NHS describes trigeminal neuralgia as sudden, severe facial pain that can feel sharp, shooting or like an electric shock. Ordinary actions such as eating, talking, brushing teeth, touching the face or exposure to a cool breeze can trigger attacks for some people.
Between attacks, somebody may look entirely well.
That gap between appearance and experience can affect understanding at work, at home and even within healthcare. Public awareness can help by making the invisible burden easier to discuss.
Patient stories need medical accuracy beside them
Awareness campaigns work best when personal experience and reliable clinical information sit together.
A portrait can show that a real person lives with the condition. It cannot diagnose trigeminal neuralgia, explain every cause or tell another patient which treatment they should have.
Diagnosis and treatment decisions belong with appropriately qualified clinicians. Patient stories have a different value: they show what symptoms, triggers, medication burden, uncertainty and disrupted daily life can mean outside the consulting room.
Why I avoid sensational language
Trigeminal neuralgia does not need frightening nicknames to be taken seriously.
The documented severity of the pain and its effect on eating, speaking, sleep, work, relationships and confidence are powerful enough.
Good awareness should increase understanding without increasing fear.
The campaign’s place in TNA UK’s public work
TNA UK has continued to refer to Face of TN alongside later awareness activity as part of the charity’s effort to create a stronger public identity for facial pain.
For me, that is the campaign’s lasting value. It gave people a visual way to say: this pain may be invisible, but the person living with it should not be.
Why this page is retained
This page is preserved as part of my patient-advocacy and TNA UK public record. It documents an awareness campaign rather than making a medical claim.
Visibility matters. Accuracy matters too. Patient voice is strongest when the two are kept together.
Sources and further reading
- TNA UK: trustees’ report and accounts
- TNA UK: awareness campaigns and public identity
- NHS: trigeminal neuralgia
