WHAT IS TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA?
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), also called tic douloureux, is a chronic neurological pain syndrome that affects the trigeminal or 5th cranial nerve, one of the most widely distributed nerves in the head. The trigeminal nerve travels from the brain stem, in the lower brain, to relay sensory signals from the face. As it travels from the brain stem it splits into three branches: the ophthalmic (upper branch) which supplies sensation to the scalp and forehead; the maxillary (middle branch) which carries sensation from the cheek, upper jaw, top lip, upper teeth and gums; and the mandibular (lower branch) which supplies sensation to the lower jaw, lower teeth and gums and bottom lip.
TN is considered by many specialists to be one of the most debilitating and painful syndromes a patient can develop giving rise to its nickname “the suicide disease.”
WHAT CAUSES TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA?
TN pain arises when one or more of the three paired branches of the trigeminal nerve are damaged or irritated. Damage and/or irritation can be associated with a variety of different factors including: blood vessels pressing on the trigeminal nerve as it exits the brain stem, demyelination of the nerve associated with MS, nerve entrapment in the muscles of the head or jaw, damage from sinus or oral surgery, stroke or direct trauma to the nerve itself from facial trauma.
Advances in imaging have also lead to several recently published research studies that suggest many of these symptoms may have a root cause in injury and/or misalignment of the upper cervical spine that can create venous congestion or direct irritation of the trigeminal nucleus that extends down to the first two vertebrae of the upper neck. This research helps explain way non-invasive procedures such as Blair Upper Cervical chiropractic care helps relieve trigeminal neuralgia in so many cases.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA?
TN typically affects one side of the face, but in some cases the pain may affect different sides of the face at different times or it may affect both sides at the same time.
There are two types of trigeminal neuralgia:
- Classic or typical (TN1)which causes patients to experience extreme, sporadic shock-like or burning facial pain that lasts from a few seconds to as long as two minutes. The pain can occur suddenly and vanish or repeat in quick succession lasting several hours.
- Atypical (TN2) TN is described as more of a constant aching, burning or stabbing pain.
Some people experience both TN1 and TN2 at different times and are often left feeling incapacitated both physically and mentally.
Both forms of TN tend to be progressive with periods between attacks becoming shorter, with the pain becoming increasingly worse and/or debilitating. Often forcing people to avoid social situations and normal activities of daily life to try and avoid an attack.
BLAIR UPPER CERVICAL CHIROPRACTIC – A NATURAL APPROACH TO RELIEVING TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA
Upper Cervical Chiropractic care is a very precise and non-invasive procedure that uses specific measurements in posture, autonomic balance, and anatomy to help create a gentle and lasting correction in the alignment and motion of the upper cervical spine. This correction improves brain to body communication allowing the body to heal which may result in:
- Reduction of spinal cord tension which relieves the irritation to the trigeminal nucleus in the upper neck and brain stem
- Establishes proper drainage of venous and lymphatic fluids alleviating possible blood vessel pressure on the trigeminal nerve
- Relaxed muscle tone reducing impingement on the branches of the trigeminal nerve
- Proper movement of cerebro-spinal fluid (csf) reducing brain stem and blood vessel pressure
Causes of Trigeminal Neuralgia
Upper Cervical misalignments, (subluxations) can distort messages to any area of your body and if those messages are coming from your face including one or more of the trigeminal nerve branches, your brain may perceive these normal messages as electrical stabbing or burning pain when there is really nothing wrong there and it really doesn’t exist in these areas. Upper Cervical Subluxations can be caused by 3 major categories; physical, chemical, or emotional stresses, (traumas, toxins or thoughts). Trigeminal Neuralgia does not come from a drug deficiency or too many body parts. What this means is no drug will cure TN. Drugs will merely mask the symptoms at best. However, in the process, you may experience a whole different set of symptoms resulting from medication side effects or the surgical procedures commonly used to try to treat Trigeminal Neuralgia's horrible symptoms.
Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia
Fortunately, Upper Cervical Chiropractic can help in many cases to decrease or stop this type of pain. Research has shown that damage to the Trigeminal Neuralgia nerve in the upper cervical spine can lead to the development of TN symptoms. Whiplash trauma's have been demonstrated as having a massive impact in the development of TN cases..