Chiropractic Care & TGN
Trigeminal neuralgia, or TGN, is a disorder that causes intense face pain radiating from the trigeminal nerve. It has been labeled the suicide disease because of its reputation of being one of the, if not the, most painful conditions known to man. Although it is not easily controlled, new research is finding that chiropractic care may be able to treat this debilitating disease.
TGN is traditionally treated through medications such as lidocaine, duloxetine and various opiates. If medication does not help, than surgical therapy is recommended. However, surgery can leave the face numb in certain areas and pain may begin to resurface after time. This may suggest that the root of the pain is caused by the sensory nucleus in the brainstem.
John D. Grostic, DC, who has since passed, believed that he could treat patients suffering from TGN with chiropractic treatments that “put traction directly on the sensory nucleus of the trigeminal nerve.” To put it in layman’s terms, head pain in the trigeminocervical nucleus is caused by the merging of the trigeminal nerve and first three cervical nerves in the spine. Since the nerves are being stimulated by the upper cervical vertebrae, it makes sense that chiropractic adjustments to those vertebrae could help ease trigeminal neuralgia pain, as well as any pain that is being caused by the trigeminal nerve.
If the trigeminal nerve can not be treated directly by the chiropractor, it may be possible to reach it by stimulating the surrounding parasympathetic and sympathetic fibers. This was discovered in a study of 40 patients where cervical adjustments caused a change in parasympathetic fibers. This research supports how chiropractic care has the ability to manipulate the nervous system.
This research helps reiterate how chiropractic is a reliable form of alternative health care that offers real results. Pain in even the most intense cases, such as TGN, can be managed with a drug-free, low-risk treatment. There have been many studies that support how chiropractic can help people suffering with all types crippling diseases such as fibromyalgia and myofacial pain syndrome. If you are someone suffering from a painful ailment chiropractic might be a viable option for you.