Dr. Ranj Singh wouldn’t have been brave enough to compete on 'Strictly Come Dancing' without having an operation to cure his trigeminal neuralgia.
Dr Ranj Singh
After five years of pain the TV doctor was diagnosed with the disorder that caused him “transient pain in my mouth” and his dentist eventually referred him to a neurologist at Kings College in London.
And he’s grateful they did as it’s completely changed his outlook on life and made him realise the need “to make the most of life now”, including agreeing to test himself on the BBC ballroom contest in 2018.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, he said: “I’ve realised that life is short, and you can’t control it.
“None of us know what’s going to happen in 10 years so you have to make the most of life now.
“The whole experience has driven me in so many directions I might not have gone.
“I probably wouldn’t have done 'Strictly' without my operation, and generally I’m so much more willing to give things a go now.
“It’s made me braver, and I fully intend to grab every opportunity that comes my way and make the most of it.”
The 42-year-old star is the resident doctor on ITV daytime programme ‘This Morning’ and presented the CBeebies show 'Get Well Soon' from 2012 to 2015.
He was plagued with pain for five years until his symptoms escalated so badly by the time he was 35 that he had to seek urgent medical assistance.
And after undergoing a procedure known as “microvascular decompression” he now thankfully feels “no pain at all”.
He said: “In layman’s terms they stick a bit of Teflon between the nerves and the blood vessel that is irritating it, so that they can’t interfere with each other.
“The surgeon opens a window in the skull using a special drill, takes that plate out, accesses the nerve, then once they’ve completed the procedure, they put the skull plate back and stitch it all together again.
“It wasn’t quite like Hannibal Lecter, but I do have a 10cm scar behind my left ear.
“The impact was pretty much immediate.
“I felt groggy for a couple of days after the operation, but the symptoms then completely dispersed, and five years later I’m on no medication with no pain at all and I can now fiddle with my face to my heart’s content.
“I’m eating using both sides of my mouth, screaming, shouting, laughing, and talking a lot and – touch wood – that’s it.”