Salman Khan reveals his shocking health battle: 'Unbearable pain, took me 90 minutes just to eat breakfast, even painkillers did not help'

For seven and a half years, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan battled a painful condition called trigeminal neuralgia. Recently, the actor appeared alongside Aamir Khan on a talk show hosted by Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, where he opened up about how the condition affected his life and how he ultimately overcame it. Salman shared that the pain first began in 2007 while shooting for the film Partner.

Salman Khan on battling with painful disease

At first, he believed it was a dental issue. “It started when Lara Dutta brushed a strand of hair from my face, I felt an electric jolt,” he recalled. Initially misdiagnosed, his condition worsened with time. The pain was so intense that he described it as something that he would not wish on the worst enemy.



The disorder impacted his daily life significantly. Simple tasks like eating became a challenge He revealed at the talk show Two Much that it used to take him an hour and a half just to finish breakfast and even painkillers didn’t help. Due to its extreme pain, trigeminal neuralgia often leads patients to despair.

What is Trigeminal Neuralgia?

Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic nerve disorder marked by sudden, excruciating facial pain. It affects the trigeminal nerve—the fifth cranial nerve responsible for sensation in the face. Pain attacks usually last seconds but can stretch longer, occurring repeatedly throughout the day. The pain is often described as stabbing, shock-like, or burning, and may be accompanied by numbness, throbbing, or tingling between episodes.

These attacks are unpredictable and can be triggered by the simplest actions, brushing teeth, shaving, washing the face, eating, drinking, or even exposure to wind. While the pain may remain localised, it can also radiate across larger areas of the face. Though attacks may stop for a while, the condition often returns in cycles.

How Salman Khan get it cured?

At the talk show, Salman Khan spoke about how treatment for his condition has advanced over the years. He mentioned that trigeminal neuralgia can now be managed more easily thanks to medical procedures like gamma knife surgery. Describing the process, he said it involves lying still for several hours while screws are fixed to the head to guide the treatment accurately.


Recalling his own experience, Salman said that they fix screws on your face for 7-8 hours. At the time, doctors told him the surgery might only reduce his pain by 20 to 30 percent, but to his relief, the pain disappeared entirely after the operation.

He also revealed that although the nerve pain is gone, he still lives with other health issues, including an aneurysm and arteriovenous malformation. However, Salman added that such conditions are a part of life, noting that many people live with serious health concerns like heart problems or even after undergoing bypass surgeries.

Despite these challenges, the actor remains active. On the work front, Salman is currently busy filming his upcoming project, Battle of Galwan.