The Canadian Trigeminal Neuralgia Association (CaTNA) is an organization made up of volunteers who provide information and support to Canadians with this disease. We have have support groups in communities across Canada and are ready to help establish additional groups as needed. If you would like help to establish a support group in your town, please contact help@catna2.ca
There are support groups across Canada. There are no fees to attend although a donation at the meeting is always welcome. In addition there is a virtual support group open to everyone monthly via zoom (September – May). If you would like to attend a meeting and/or be on the list to receive email notice of upcoming events – please use the contact form found on the website.
Trigeminal Neuralgia is a facial nerve disorder that causes sudden and severe shock-like pains in the face. The disease affects approximately 1.5% of the population, mostly in people over the age of 55 although it can affect people of any age. TN can be caused by the irritation of a blood vessel lying in close proximity to the nerve root or by damage to the nerve caused by disease or trauma. It is normally diagnosed with the patient’s history and confirmed with an MRI. Of course there are many forms of neuropathic trigeminal pain.
The disease is treated with medications and/or with surgical procedures.
Our new website was made possible because of an applied research scholarship program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. The projects conducted by students and supervised by their instructors are to work with industry and community groups, such as CaTNA with no cost to them. We were very fortunate to work with two students, Eladio Escobedo Trujillo, Ky Ho and supervisor George Ding. It was a wonderful experience getting to work with these 3 gentlemen!
We all enjoyed the project, which introduces our international students to a real world project while appreciating the fact that this website will help a lot of people. – George
It was a great experience for me. I hope we will have a better treatment with fewer side effects soon. – Ky
Personally, working on the CaTNA website development project was a valuable and engaging experience; it helped me to learn about this rare and painful disease. I’m glad I had the chance to contribute even if just a little, to help our community have a more comfortable experience while navigating, learning, and gathering in support groups. I consider it very important for patients to have access to valuable information and first-hand recommendations that come directly from experience. – Eladio