Stress & Depression Can Trigger Trigeminal Neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia is a rather common painful disorder.

The exact cause behind this disorder is not completely understood. Conventional medications are often ineffective in controlling the severe pain that is experienced by patients with trigeminal neuralgia.

The trigeminal nerve is a cranial nerve that primarily carries sensory nerve fibers of the skin of the face. Injury to the nerve fibers of the trigeminal nerve leads to pain which is usually severe and burning in nature.

Although the exact mechanism behind trigeminal neuralgia is yet to be known, research has proven that stress and depression can aggravate the pain attacks that patients experience.

The presentation of trigeminal neuralgia is often in the form of stabbing or burning pain of one side of the face. The pain is usually localized to the area between the angle of the jaw and the corner of the mouth. However, some patients report pain localized to the area between the upper lip and the eyebrow.

The pain is often severe and occurs in attacks that can last for up to 20 minutes.

The frequency of the attacks varies greatly; while some patients experience 1-2 attacks per day, others may experience 10 attacks or more per hour. The pain is often triggered by talking, chewing, smiling, shaving and drinking hot or cold drinks. Furthermore, blowing the nose and brushing the teeth can trigger the pain in some patients.

Initially, patients may find relief with one of the drugs that are usually prescribed to patients with trigeminal neuralgia such as carbamazepine.

Afterwards, the pain becomes resistant to medical treatment and the severity of pain aggravates over time. Most recently, NRC has been proven to be effective in controlling the severe pain attacks that are experienced by patients with trigeminal neuralgia.

The unique NRC technique is a chiropractic hands-on technique that has produced magical pain relief results in many disorders associated with pain including trigeminal neuralgia.

The NRC design was based on the fact that compression and/or irritation of the meninges, which are membranous sheaths that envelop the brain and nerves, are the main causes underlying painful disorders.

The NRC technique involves compression of the occiput and the atlas which relieves tension exerted on the meninges sheathing the nerves. Patients with trigeminal neuralgia can experience complete relief of their pain after a single session of NRC therapy.

One of the great benefits of NRC is that relieves stress.

As mentioned earlier, patients with trigeminal neuralgia often develop depression which further aggravates their perception of pain during the attacks. Accordingly, not only can NRC decrease the severity of pain attacks in patients with trigeminal neuralgia, but it can also relieve stress which helps in the control of associated depressive symptoms.

A 10 minute therapeutic test can help the chiropractor determine whether or not NRC can help alleviate your pain.

A decrease in the severity of the pain after a short NRC session predicts even better results with longer repeated sessions.

Even more, some patients with trigeminal neuralgia experience complete disappearance of their pain during or shortly after the therapeutic test.

The NRC technique is totally safe and has been increasingly becoming an effective pain control treatment in many diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, headache, lupus, arthritis, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, Parkinsonism, irritable bowel syndrome, nervousness, anorexia and various painful disorders.




Dr. Tanner Hancock, Hancock Health & Wellness is one of the few clinics in the U.S. and the only clinic selected in Wichita, Kansas to provide the NRC technique for the natural, drug free treatment of many types of pain & other conditions.