[Influence of manual therapy of cervical spine on typical trigeminal neuralgia: a case report]

This article presents the case of a 43-year-old female patient with pain in the cervical spine area and a typical trigeminal neuralgia (TN; French name "tic douloureux") in the receptive field of the second and the third branches of the left trigeminal nerve. The patient came to our medical practice for a manual therapy of the cervical spine as the application of the standard therapy had not given her any pain reduction in the cervical spine area. As the result of the manual therapy of the cervical spine (nonspecific traction mobilization, specific or segmental mobilization, manipulation), not only a significant pain reduction in the cervical spine area occurred but also a complete cessation of TN. Before manual treatment, and in spite of antiepileptic drugs therapy and acupuncture, the patient had suffered from everyday typical TN attacks. The cessation of typical TN after manual therapy of cervical spine suggests a conclusion that the painful stimuli from the cervical spine structures can be manifested not only as atypical facial pain and/or a cervicogenic headache, but also as a typical TN (painful stimuli from the cervical spine structures-->trigeminocervical nuclei-->convergence of the painful stimuli-->referred pain in the receptive field of the trigeminal nerve-->typical or atypical TN and/or cervicogenic headache).