Imagine how burdensome and torturous it would be if a person had to be careful and endure pain even when talking and eating normally? Auntie Huang from Lishui has been suffering from this unspeakable pain for 5 years. Five years ago, Auntie Huang unfortunately suffered from left-sided glossopharyngeal neuralgia, manifested as paroxysmal pinprick-like pain behind the left ear and in the angle of the jaw, and the pharynx was as uncomfortable as a fish spike stuck in it. Although she had been taking a drug called carbamazepine on a regular basis, the pain control in the face and pharynx continued to have little effect as the dose of the drug was increased. Due to the pain in the throat that is often triggered when talking and swallowing, for many years Auntie Huang was afraid to speak more and eat normally. For this reason, Auntie Huang’s body and mind were devastated, and her joy of life was gone, and her life was like walking on the edge of a knife, walking on thin ice. There is no way out of the mountain, and there is a village in the dark. When the whole family was running around for years, looking for medicine with no luck, Auntie Huang’s son, who works in the medical field, was introduced by a friend and learned that Dr. Chen Yili, deputy chief of neurosurgery at Run Run Shaw Hospital, who returned from Japan with a doctorate degree from the University of Tokyo, had great insight into the disease. With a glimmer of hope, they came to the neurosurgery department of Run Run Shaw Hospital. Little did they know that this glimmer of hope would lead to infinite life. Director Chen carefully analyzed Auntie Huang’s condition, made a clear diagnosis and formulated a meticulous treatment plan, which was carefully carried out. With the patient’s active cooperation, Director Chen was able to overcome the disease in one fell swoop, and Huang’s pain was completely eliminated, as if she had regained her life. From then on, the bright sunshine dispelled the gloom brought by the disease and brightened up Auntie Huang’s life again. So, how exactly did Director Chen cure Auntie Huang’s disease? Let’s listen to what Director Chen Yili has to say about the treatment method and the treatment process. It is currently recognized that the cause is microvascular compression of the linguopharyngeal and vagus nerves, causing demyelination of the linguopharyngeal and vagus nerves, resulting in a “short circuit” between the afferent impulses of the linguopharyngeal nerve and the vagus nerve. It usually develops after the age of 40, with an annual incidence of about one case in a million to ten million people, and is extremely rare. Similar to trigeminal neuralgia, intermittent episodes of short-lived, intense, unbearable pain may occur spontaneously or may be triggered by certain movements (e.g., chewing, swallowing, speaking or sneezing) and last from a few seconds to several minutes. Unlike the trigeminal nerve, however, episodic pain is usually located in the tonsillar region, pharynx, or base of the tongue on one side and may radiate to the ipsilateral ear. The pain is strictly unilateral. In 1% to 2% of cases, hyperactivity of the vagus nerve may even cause sinus arrest with syncope, and there may be a long interval between attacks. Microvascular decompression is a radical treatment for the cause of glossopharyngeal neuralgia, and the theory of microvascular compression of the glossopharyngeal nerve is the rationale for microvascular decompression. The method of microvascular decompression is as follows: under general anesthesia, an intra-hair incision is made behind the affected ear, the skull is opened, and the diameter of the bone window is about 2-3 cm, then the operation is performed under the microscope: the travel area of the intracranial linguopharyngeal nerve root is explored, the arachnoid membrane around the linguopharyngeal nerve is fully released, all the vessels that may produce compression on the linguopharyngeal nerve root are separated, and Teflon pads are inserted between these vessels and the adjacent brainstem. The Teflon spacer is inserted between these vessels and the adjacent brainstem to isolate the responsible vessel (the vessel that is compressing the nerve and causing pain is called the “responsible vessel”) from the nerve root. In most patients, the pain disappears after surgery, and 99% of patients are cured. Normal facial sensation and function are preserved. Microvascular decompression has the characteristics of minimally invasive, high safety, significant effect, low recurrence rate and low complication rate, especially it can completely preserve the function of the linguopharyngeal nerve, so microvascular decompression is the first choice of treatment for primary linguopharyngeal neuralgia with poor drug effect. Director Chen Yili reminded that although microvascular decompression is minimally invasive, the operation is demanding, narrow and deep, and operates near the brainstem, so this operation still has certain risks. Director Chen introduced that linguopharyngeal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia and facial muscle spasm were difficult to find a safe and effective radical cure in the past, and once patients developed them, they often had difficulty in tolerating the symptoms, which seriously affected their lives, especially linguopharyngeal neuralgia, which is very rare, with a much lower incidence than trigeminal neuralgia and facial muscle spasm, and easily misdiagnosed. Microvascular decompression surgery, which targets the etiology of these diseases, is internationally recognized as the safest and most effective method for the treatment of glossopharyngeal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia and facial spasm because it uses small incisions with small bone windows and basically leaves no scars after cosmetic suturing, and has the advantages of being radical, non-destructive and less damaging. The Neurosurgery Department of Run Run Shaw Hospital has improved the surgical technique of microvascular decompression and has performed more than 50 cases of microvascular decompression in the past one year, which is at the forefront of the province in terms of quality and quantity of surgery. Here, we are sincerely happy for Auntie Huang and her family to return to a healthy and happy life, and we also hope that the Neurosurgery Department of Run Run Shaw Hospital can bring the gospel to more and more patients like Auntie Huang, so that their healthy life can be rekindled here.