I cannot find the exact site where I saw info.Ad I say,I am not a pro.
In the book Striking Back,the complementary section looks at upper cervical chiropractic and they say for some people it can work.They do give the warnings.
I see the branches of the nerve in the pic,it is not a branch but something to do with the actual body(?) .If I can find something easy that is legit I will reply again.
As for this morning,with the pain burning,I don’t think any more info is coming from me.But I am always curious as the where I get the info from so I will probably start searching.If anyone else has the info please reply to Liz
Thanks
Darn,cannot seem to paste the picture from google images .Please do a search.
maybe they are wrong.
I am just a poor,suffering old lady,who does not know whether those images are fudged or not.The part that appears to go to the upper cervical is from the nucleus.
The reasoning behind upper cervical chiropractic work is because the trigeminal nerve originates in the brain stem (at the base of the skull) and the theory is that relieving pressure off the origin can help reduce the pain. However, I would never subject myself to chiropractic adjustments knowing what I know now. They can cause great harm to your body including severing the vertebral arteries which leads to a stroke and sometimes death. Research does not support chiropractic work for elimination of pain.
You are absolutely correct. The trigeminal nerve does not extend into the neck. It originates in the brain stem (close to where your head and neck connect) and all three branches and their subdivisions go to the face and upper scalp. Your explanation on why they think chiropractic manipulation helps is also spot on. Still, I would not have it done because of the risks to vertebral arteries, especially now that I’m close to 70 (yikes) years old. I have also taken multiple anatomy and physiology courses through my studies for nursing and then nurse anesthesiology. (now retired) I have never seen any reference to the Trigeminal innervating the neck.This is directly from an anatomy book. Nerves that go into the neck ar CN2 (optic) and CN 3( oculomotor) and CN4 (trochlear). CN 5 is the trigeminal.
Little late in reply, but the trigeminal nerve complex most certainly extends to the neck below the brainstem in some cases below C4 which is greater than half way down and accounts for many head and facial pain syndromes. In addition structures associated with these areas ( even lower) can be involved.
Originally the DREZ procedure was directed at these structure, fortunately out of favour due to bad outcomes.
There seems to be a fixation on upper chiro care, massage and posture, relaxation can be positive in addition to lifestyle changes. While physical therapy of whatever kind may benefit, lack of wasn’t the cause.
I’d like to think, manipulation of the upper cervical spine which possibly led to stroke or worse ( though I believe stats are so minimal it can’t be proven statistically) have been administered inappropriatley, with a lack of clinical judgement, this happens in every area of medicine, MVD and prescriptions.
Interestingly a UK chiro has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter recently, where the derivation of the word came from can’t begin to imagine.
Physical therapists including chiros have several modalities of treatment available not just manipulation, snap/ crack. State your case and fears and hopefully a treatment protocol can be agreed on.
