I have had tn for most of my life - it started when I was teenager, about 25 years ago. It is not chronic - it is sporadic. Sometimes it lasts for a few hours, sometimes a couple of days, and once for three weeks. I also sometimes go for long periods of time with no episodes. It is agony every time I get it, and I live in fear of getting it. I take tegratol when I do get it, and this sometimes works.

I have always tried to figure out what my triggers are. I have a couple of things that seem to be linked (plane trips, bike helmets/tight sunglasses) but the one thing I have definitely linked is scratching the inside of my ear. What I mean by that is inserting finger (or Q-tip) into ear and scratching. I tend to have very itchy ears and unfortunately it took me a number of years to figure this out. Even now and then when I am not thinking I catch myself doing it but then quickly stop.

Anyway, my question is if this is a normal trigger? And why? In my lay person's understanding, it seems that perhaps I have accidentally put pressure on the nerve, but I really don't know.

Any thoughts or comments?

I appreciate it!