What Are Trigeminal Neuralgia, Brain Aneurysm, and AV Malformation That The Bollywood Star Is Battling?

“Pasliyan toot gayi… trigeminal neuralgia ke sath kaam kar rahe hain… aneurysm hai brain mein… AV malformation hai.”

That’s Bollywood megastar Salman Khan on The Kapil Sharma Show casually rattling off his ongoing health battles like it’s just another day on set. For most people, this would be a serious list of medical red flags. For Salman, it was a throwaway comment delivered with the same swag you’d expect from a man who once flipped a table onscreen using only his little finger.

Each of these is a complicated condition involving the brain and nerves, and can be dangerous. Let’s break down what each of these conditions really means.

1. Brain Aneurysm

A brain aneurysm (also called cerebral aneurysm) is like a balloon forming on a weak spot in a blood vessel in your brain. Says Interventional Neurologist Dr. Vinit Banga, Director – Neurology at Fortis Hospital in Faridabad, “A brain aneurysm is ballooning or bulging of an artery wall in the brain resulting from weakness in the vascular wall. Many people have brain aneurysms and don’t even know it. It manifests with massive and acute headache when it leaks or ruptures and produces hemorrhagic stroke, which is often lethal.”

They often don’t cause symptoms unless they’re very large or have burst. Some people only discover them by accident during a brain scan for another problem. “Risk factors are hypertension, smoking, family history, and age,” adds Dr. Banga.

Why it’s dangerous: If the brain aneurysm ruptures, it causes bleeding in the brain, which can lead to death or serious brain damage. About 25% of people don’t survive the first rupture. Scans like MRI, CT angiography, or a cerebral angiogram can spot an aneurysm.

Treatment: If it’s small and not growing, doctors might just watch it over time with regular scans. If it’s large, painful, or at risk of bursting, doctors may suggest clipping surgery, where the aneurysm is closed off with a metal clip. Coiling, which is a less invasive option where a coil is put into the aneurysm through a thin tube in the blood vessels. Each option has risks and benefits, and the choice depends on the size, shape, and location of the aneurysm.

2. Trigeminal Neuralgia

Trigeminal Neuralgia (Getty Images)

Says Dr. Banga, “Trigeminal Neuralgia is a disorder of pain of the trigeminal nerve that conveys facial sensation to the brain. It induces a severe electric shock-like pain in the face, usually provoked by something as light as chewing, brushing teeth or speaking. This illness is most commonly caused by nerve compression, most often by an overlying blood vessel, or less commonly by tumours or multiple sclerosis.” In short, Trigeminal neuralgia (or TN) is a nerve problem that causes severe, shock-like pain in the face; usually on one side.

Why it happens: This pain comes from a nerve called the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from your face to your brain. In many cases, a blood vessel presses on this nerve near the brain, damaging its protective coating and causing pain signals to misfire.

How common is it: Not very. It usually shows up in people over 50, and women tend to get it more than men. Doctors diagnose it mostly by hearing your description of the pain. They may do an MRI to check if a blood vessel is pressing on the nerve, or to rule out other issues like tumours or multiple sclerosis.

Treatment: The first step is usually medicine—commonly an anti-seizure drug like carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine. If the medicine doesn’t work or causes too many side effects, doctors might recommend surgery. The most common surgery is microvascular decompression, which lifts the blood vessel off the nerve. Less invasive options include radiosurgery (like a focused beam of radiation) or needle procedures done through the face.

3. ArterioVenous Malformation (AVM)

An AVM is a mess of abnormal blood vessels in the brain. It happens when arteries (which carry blood away from the heart) connect directly to veins (which carry it back) but without the tiny capillaries in between that usually slow the blood flow down.

Why it’s dangerous: The condition creates high pressure in the veins and can cause them to rupture, leading to bleeding in the brain (just like a ruptured aneurysm). Some AVMs also cause seizures, headaches, or weakness in parts of the body. AVMs are usually found through MRI or CT scans, often after a seizure or brain bleed. A special brain scan called a cerebral angiogram helps doctors map the blood flow.

Treatment: Depends on the size and location of the AVM and whether it has caused symptoms. If the AVM is small and in a safe area, doctors might remove it completely with surgery. Else, embolization is a procedure where a special glue or coil is used to block the abnormal vessels before surgery or as a treatment on its own. Radiation (Gamma Knife) is a high-dose, focused radiation used to shrink the AVM over time. It may take 2–3 years to work. Doctors might also choose to leave it alone if the AVM hasn’t bled and is in a risky spot because the treatment itself could do more harm than good.

In Short

These aren’t just “celebrity problems.” Millions of people worldwide are silently dealing with these same issues. Thanks to medical research, diagnosis and treatment options today are better than ever. If you or someone you know experiences facial pain, strange headaches, or seizures, it’s worth getting checked out early. In many cases, early treatment can prevent dangerous complications later on.

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