Salman Khan

Mumbai, Aug. 26: Actor Salman Khan, who takes pride in celebrating Id and the Ganesh festival at his home, will most likely have to give both a miss this year. He is flying to the US tomorrow night for treatment of a nerve disorder that causes acute shooting pain in his face and jaw.

Salman’s manager Reshma Shetty said the actor would board the flight with brothers Arbaaz and Sohail and sisters Alvira and Arpita. “He has been suffering from a condition called trigeminal neuralgia,” she said.

Shetty declined to say when the actor, who may need surgery, might return. Salman is certain to miss next week’s release of his film Bodyguard, timed with Id and the start of the Ganesh celebrations.

Bollywood has been buzzing for months about Salman’s “mystery” illness, with some rumours saying the 45-year-old had been advised angiography till Arbaaz cleared the air this week.

Trigeminal neuralgia is a disorder of the trigeminal nerve, one of the 12 cranial nerves that originate from each side of the brain. Among its possible causes are a swollen blood vessel or a tumour exerting pressure on the nerve’s root.

The disease causes a stabbing pain, usually on one side of the face, that may feel like an electric shock and can be triggered by everyday activities like eating, shaving, brushing one’s teeth, talking or applying make-up.

In an interview today, Salman described how he had been living with pain for the past few years: “During (the making of) Partner, it (the pain) started on the top left side of my face. So, whenever it would get pressed, it gave me a solid current.

“During Veer, the pain came down towards the lower jaw and it was so painful that it used to take me about an hour and a half to eat an omelette. If there was a choice to give this pain to my worst enemy, I would not give it. They wouldn’t be able to take it.”