The ninth nerve

I have sharp shooting pain in my throat when I swallow," Freny aunty told me as she came in with her daughter. “It is like a fish bone stuck in my throat for over a year now!” She was in her early 80s and wore a nice floral dress, quintessential of one worn by Parsi ladies of yesteryear as a tribute to the queen of England. She had the perfect amount of lipstick and makeup to pass off as 'propah'.

- Dr MAZDA TUREL

The ENT surgeon they had gone to had performed an endoscopy and declared that all was clear. “Do you have pain at the bottom of your tongue?” I asked a ninja question, one that allows you to clinch the diagnosis swiftly. She nodded in the affirmative, opening her mouth and pointing to the exact spot on the left side.

“You have glossopharyngeal neuralgia,” I declared, acknowledging the irony of diagnosing her issue with two tongue-twisting words. “Dikra, jara aapri language ma please explain!” she requested for a dumbed-down understanding. I elucidated that the glosso (tongue) pharyngeal (pharynx) nerve, the ninth cranial nerve, was being disturbed by something going on in the brain. Neuralgia meant nerve pain. “An MRI will give us the answer,” I said, insisting she get one done. When they returned with the result, sure enough, there was an abnormal loop of an artery pressing against the nerve.