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).