Nerve Disorder

Charleston UC

Nerve Disorder

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Are you suffering from trigeminal neuralgia?

If so, how severe is it affecting your life? Does income in waves? Or is the stabbing, burning sensation there almost 100% of the time? Are you sick of going to doctor's appointments and “trigeminal neuralgia specialists” when the only thing that you’re told is that you need a stronger medication to deal with the pain? What’s most frustrating is that medication alone doesn’t really help identify the cause of the problem

So if there was a natural, non-drug, and non-surgical approach to helping trigeminal neuralgia with a high rate of success, would you want to know about it? If so, let me explain the connection between trigeminal neuralgia, the upper part of your neck, and a unique form of healthcare that may be able to help you..

What no one has ever told you about Trigeminal Neuralgia

Most treatments for trigeminal neuralgia focus on the three main branches of the trigeminal nerve: the ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular Nerves. Surgical procedures like microvascular decompression (MVD) are effective for trigeminal neuralgia about 50% of the time. Unfortunately, that leaves 50% of trigeminal neuralgia cases unimproved after treatment. It would suggest that the other 50% experience trigeminal neuralgia for a different reason. That reason may well be dysfunction with the root of the trigeminal nerve.

That root of the trigeminal nerve is called the spinal trigeminal nucleus, which receives and processes all the sensory information from the branches of the Trigeminal Nerve. Here’s the part that you may not know and that pertains to trigeminal neuralgia. The spinal trigeminal nucleus extends from the brainstem through your spinal cord all the way down to the level of the C3 vertebra in your neck.

The implication here is that something that negatively affects your spinal cord in the upper part of your neck has the potential to produce the relentless pain of trigeminal neuralgia.

What is the Role of your Upper Neck in Trigeminal Neuralgia?

Here’s where things start to get interesting. The alignment of the top three bones in your neck - the C1 (atlas) and C2 (axis) and C3 - is critical for the healthy function of your nervous system. Unlike the vertebrae lower down your back, these three bones are physically anchored to your spinal cord. If you suffer an injury that causes any of these vertebrae to misalign, they can literally produce tension on your spinal cord like pulling on a piece of string. This tension can produce irritation to the spinal trigeminal nucleus and thereby cause trigeminal neuralgia.

If you don’t remember a specific injury that caused your trigeminal neuralgia, that is normal. The kind of injury that causes these types of problems at C1, C2 or C3 usually isn’t the kind of injury that breaks or dislocates anything. It is usually an injury when you felt sore for a few days, but you were able to carry on with things. Unfortunately, you never realized that the injury created a little problem that has been growing beneath the surface for months, years or even decades until it finally becomes a big problem like trigeminal neuralgia.

So the cause of trigeminal neuralgia may not always be a problem with the nerve branches. It can actually be a problem with your neck! So even though you’ve been to the doctors and specialists that they can’t find the cause of your trigeminal neuralgia. It very well could be because they’ve been looking in the wrong place! So let me ask you: for as long as you’ve suffered from trigeminal neuralgia, have you ever had a thorough assessment done for the upper part of your neck to make sure that your C1, C2, and C2 are properly aligned. If not, then now is the time that you need to visit an upper cervical care doctor.

Can Upper Cervical Care Help your Trigeminal Neuralgia?

If you’ve never heard of upper cervical care for trigeminal neuralgia before, I’m not surprised. So much of the information on trigeminal neuralgia focuses on medication and pain management. Very little information considers the cause of trigeminal neuralgia, and even less considers that a natural drug-free solution may be possible.

So what is it? upper cervical care is a different style of chiropractic that was developed in the USA that focuses on the proper alignment of the C1, C2, and C3 vertebrae for the purpose of reducing tension on the central nervous system and on restoring health. Many people see the word “chiropractic” and presume that Upper cervical care is like general spinal manipulation that is commonly practiced in Australia. That is not the case at all!

The first part of an upper cervical assessment is to determine if you have a misalignment of C1, C2, or C3 in the first place. In our office, we use computerized thermography as a way to measure if your nervous system is working properly. If not, the next step involves advanced x-ray imaging that shows us exactly how the bones in your neck can be irritating your spinal cord and producing the pain of trigeminal neuralgia.

Our practice in Charleston is actually the only advanced certified upper cervical office where we take all of our tests on site. Because we know the exact degree of misalignment in your neck, we don’t need to use near as much force as standard manipulations to correct your alignment. There is zero twistings, cracking, or neck manipulation in an upper cervical adjustment. In fact, the total amount of pressure we use is no more than the amount of pressure you would use to feel your pulse. As light as the procedure is, people are surprised at how powerful a simple correction to the alignment of your neck can be to reduce the pain of trigeminal neuralgia.

Have you Tried Upper Cervical Care to Help your Trigeminal Neuralgia?

The purpose of upper cervical care is not solely to treat the symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia. The purpose is to make sure that the alignment of the upper neck is correct, to take the pressure off the brainstem, and then to allow your body to heal naturally as it is designed. When we do that, we find a huge percent of people experience relief from trigeminal neuralgia when none of the normal medical options have worked at all.

For all the challenges associated with trigeminal neuralgia, remember that the core problem is one that is affecting your nervous system … just maybe not the part where everyone has been looking! Even if you’ve tried general chiropractic or been to“trigeminal neuralgia specialists,” if you have not tried upper cervical care, it could be the most important thing you can do to find the relief you have been seeking for so long.

If you or a loved one is looking for a natural solution for trigeminal neuralgia, contact our practice in Charleston at (843) 225 5855 to speak with one of our doctors about how we can help you. And if you are outside of the Charleston area, still feel free to contact us, and we will be happy to help find you a qualified doctor in your area.