Oh, gather ’round, history buffs and pain enthusiasts, for a whimsical jaunt down the memory lane of Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN), the facial pain that’s been stealing the show since the 2nd century AD. Our pal Aretaeus of Cappadocia, who probably had nothing better to do, is credited with the first-ever shoutout to TN in the annals of “Ouch, My Face Hurts” history.

Fast forward to the 18th century, where TN, masquerading as Fothergill’s disease—because who doesn’t love a good eponym?—was all the rage after Fothergill penned an exquisite description of the agony. But, alas, the only “cure” was to go under the knife, with treatments that sound more like medieval torture than medical procedures. Severing nerves? Resecting ganglions? Oh, what a time to be alive… and in excruciating pain.

As the centuries rolled by, a parade of surgeons with names like Hartley, Krauss, and Cushing (no relation to the syndrome, we presume) played around in the middle cranial fossa like it was their personal sandbox. And let’s not forget Dandy, who probably thought it was quite “dandy” to transect trigeminal nerves through the posterior fossa. Meanwhile, Harris was off playing mixologist with alcohol nerve blocks—cheers to that!

But hark! The mid-20th century brought a plot twist with the introduction of oral medications. Phenytoin burst onto the scene in 1942, followed by carbamazepine in 1962, giving TN sufferers a reason to smile without wincing for the first time in, well, ever. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more exciting, along came the modern era of nerve decompression, thanks to the likes of Taarnhøj, Gardner, and Jannetta. Because who needs medieval torture when you’ve got modern medicine?

So there you have it, a brief and utterly sarcastic history of TN treatments. From slicing and dicing to pills and skills, it’s been quite the journey. And to think, it all started with a guy in Cappadocia who probably just wanted to help people stop feeling like their face was being attacked by invisible bees.