How Upper Cervical Chiropractic Can Help Treat Trigeminal Neuralgia

What is Trigeminal Neuralgia?

Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic facial disorder that causes episodes of intense pain across the face and neck. Often described as a shock-like sensation, the pain typically begins near the ear and moves across the eyes, cheeks, and jaw. 

Trigeminal neuralgia can be triggered by multiple factors, including facial trauma, certain foods, or even weather changes. For some people, even routine actions like using a toothbrush can trigger an episode.

Signs and Symptoms of Trigeminal Neuralgia

The most common symptom of trigeminal neuralgia is the previously described shock-like sensation across the face and neck. This jabbing pain can be so severe that people suffering from the condition cannot sleep. Although most episodes only last for a few seconds, severe bouts can last for several minutes at a time. 

Other symptoms include numbness and tingling in the face, insomnia, and local tension in the cheek, jaw, lips, eyes, and gums. 

How the Upper Cervical Spine Affects Trigeminal Neuralgia

The upper cervical spine is the topmost segment of the spinal column, comprising seven stacked vertebrae that support the base of the skull and protect the spinal cord. 

Trigeminal neuralgia is caused by overstimulation or irritation of the trigeminal nerve, a large cranial nerve that supplies facial sensation across the cheeks, forehead, and lower jaw. The branches of the trigeminal nerve connect to the brainstem, the section of the brain linked to the spinal cord.  

Because of the upper cervical spine’s proximity to the brainstem, a vertebral misalignment in this section of the spinal column can compress the trigeminal nerve as it meets the brainstem. This can lead to the misfiring of the trigeminal nerve, causing the onset of trigeminal neuralgia. 

How Our Upper Cervical Treatment Works 

Our treatment program for trigeminal neuralgia focuses on addressing the root cause of the issue, not just the symptoms. To do so, our clinic specializes in the use of the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Technique, a chiropractic method that aims to precisely target and gently correct misalignments in the upper cervical spine. 

Our expert chiropractor, Dr. Gordon Elder, is a veteran practitioner of the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Technique. Your first appointment with Dr. Elder will typically involve a brief (25 to 30 minute) examination to determine if your trigeminal neuralgia is linked to a misalignment in the upper cervical spine. 

If a misalignment is detected, Dr. Elder will use a series of diagnostic tools, including advanced 3-D imaging, to target the precise location of the spinal misalignment. You’ll be able to review our findings in a brief report and approach Dr. Elder with any questions you might have. 

Finally, Dr. Elder will use precise, non-invasive corrections to restore the vertebrae of your upper cervical spine to their natural position. By realigning the upper cervical spine, Dr. Elder is not only removing a painful source of pressure on your trigeminal nerve, he’s effectively rebooting your body's natural healing mechanisms.

Following the initial adjustment, patients will return for regular, gradually spaced-out check-ups to ensure their adjustment has stayed in place for 3 months. Over the course of 3-5 months, most patients average between 10 and 15 appointments with Dr. Elder.  

If you’re suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, we can help! Located in Lubbock, Texas, Blair Chiropractic Clinic also services Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland, Odessa, Abilene, El Paso in Texas, and Hobbs in New Mexico. 

Published by Vic Belonogoff: A Blair Chiropractic doctor helped heal vertigo, among other conditions that Vic Belonogoff suffered from, and it gave him his life back. He continues to see an upper cervical chiropractor as a preventative measure. Vic Belonogoff is passionate about upper cervical chiropractic and how much it helps patients.

Numbness and Tingling in the Hands and Feet: A Natural Treatment Method

What is Numbness & Tingling in the Hands and Feet?

A feeling of numbness and/or tingling in the hands and feet is a very general symptom and thus, could be an indicator of any number of conditions. While this symptom is not life-threatening on its own, it can be a source of irritation and stress when attempting to go about your daily activities. While diabetes is often cited as one of the primary causes of tingling or numb hands and feet, upper cervical spinal issues are a less considered, yet common, cause of this condition. 

Signs & Symptoms

Broadly speaking, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet will feel like a prickling sensation that is accompanied by periods of complete loss of sensation in certain areas. The tingling you feel is not unlike what you might experience if you get pins and needles. However, if this condition is caused by nerve or neurological issues, it may feel more severe.

How the Upper Cervical Spine Affects This Condition

The central nervous system (CNS) acts as the body’s processing center, sending messages throughout the body in response to both internal and external stimuli. The CNS is located in the spinal cord and brain, making it particularly sensitive to any changes in the alignment of the vertebrae in this region. For instance, persistent vertebral misalignments can often induce inflammation around the spinal cord and brainstem, placing pressure on the CNS. Left untreated, this buildup of pressure can result in a cascade of signal interruptions and other neurological side effects, including numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. 

How Our Treatment Works 

Dr. Gordon Elder is a chiropractor who is a trained practitioner of the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Technique. This technique specifically focuses on identifying and targeting spinal misalignments to restore function to the spinal column, re-engage the body’s natural healing mechanisms, and treat the root cause of numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. 

When treating numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, Dr. Elder utilizes advanced diagnostic techniques, such as 3-D imaging, in order to determine whether you are suffering from a spinal misalignment. You will be provided with a brief report outlining Dr. Elder’s findings and an explanation of the best course of action following your initial appointments. 

Then, Dr. Elder will perform a series of gentle, non-invasive adjustments in order to restore the upper cervical spine to its natural position. These adjustments are gentle, quick, and precise, so you will not experience any painful twisting, popping, or cracking.  

After the first adjustment, patients will return to see Dr. Elder for regular, slightly spaced-out check-ups to make sure that the adjustment has stayed in place for three months. Over the course of three to five months, patients average between ten to fifteen appointments with Dr. Elder.   

If the numbness and tingling in your hands and feet are precluding you from living a full life, please schedule an appointment to see Dr. Elder about your upper cervical spine. Dr. Elder’s office is located in Lubbock, Texas, though he also services El Paso, Odessa, Amarillo, Midland, and Abilene, in Texas, as well as Hobbs in New Mexico. 

Published by Vic Belonogoff: A Blair Chiropractic doctor helped heal vertigo, among other conditions that Vic Belonogoff suffered from, and it gave him his life back. He continues to see an upper cervical chiropractor as a preventative measure. Vic Belonogoff is passionate about upper cervical chiropractic and how much it helps patients.

Why I am an Upper Cervical Chiropractor:

Dr. Gordon Elder , the Director of the Blair Chiropractic Clinic in Lubbock, TX tells the story of how and why he became an Upper Cervical Doctor.

I didn’t grow up thinking that I was going to be a Chiropractor. In fact, I had lots of other dreams and plans. It wasn’t until I was in college, studying for business, that I realized that I needed to change my major and that it would be good for me.

When I was four, I was in a car accident and as I grew up, I didn’t think much about it but, when I was ten, I started getting sinus infections that wouldn’t go away unless I was actually on drugs. As soon as I would get off the drugs, the sinus infection would come back. That’d occur three or four times. My mother, who had been seeing a Chiropractor, mentioned it to him. The Chiropractor asked to check me, and sure enough, it was a bone in the top of my neck that had moved and was putting pressure on some nerves and was affecting my immune system.

So, he didn’t treat my sinus infection but, he put that bone back into place and it allowed my body to restore itself and to heal.

Didn’t make a big impression on me at the time; I was only ten. My mom had been seeing this Chiropractor for a little while because of migraine headaches. In that same accident, when I was four, she started getting migraines after that, every day, all day. Now, she’d had migraines before, since junior high, but they weren’t all day, every day. So, they got significantly worse after this accident, and she saw a

Chiropractor and it got better. A friend referred her to a Blair Chiropractor and suddenly she started improving. In her case, it was a slow process but, instead of just pain relief or pain management, it became her body attempting to heal itself and progressively doing so.

I grew up with that. I didn’t really think about it. We had occasional chiropractic appointments to make sure that I was still in alignment. I didn’t have to be adjusted very often; maybe after a wrestling bout or match occasionally. I went through high school aiming for the air force academy. And when I didn’t make it into the air force academy, thinking maybe Business?

And I started studying business and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t really exciting. I don’t know, it just wasn’t a really great fit.

Now, as it happens, I married a beautiful young lady who had a lot of health problems and I told her that she should see my

Chiropractor. She was a little resistant because she had had a bad experience, like so many people have. But this Chiropractor ran a few tests before asking her any questions about what her problem was. And he pointed to her neck and said,

“You’re carrying pressure on your brain stem and nerves right up here.”

And she started crying a little bit, I think. I remember that I was pretty close to tears because that had been something that we had been suffering with or going through. This was after the first year of marriage so, one year of marriage and she had been suffering from childhood with back pain and headaches and neck pain, and it seemed to be getting worse every year. And the interesting thing is that she had this idea that there was some kind of a tumor or some kind of pressure on the brain stem up here but, all the MRI’s and imaging, doctors said, “That can’t happen. There’s nothing there.” And so, she just felt doomed to slowly getting worse every year. Well, this Chiropractor convinced her to let him adjust her neck and he did. She started sleeping better, she started feeling better, it was a very slow, kind of like my mother, a very slow gradual process.
Meanwhile, I was in business school and realized that this wasn’t so interesting, and my wife ended up working for this Chiropractor and then coming home and telling me all of these cool stories about people who were getting well from things that I didn’t even know that chiropractic could help. I thought,

“Wow! This is pretty awesome!”

Also, I knew that my wife was a pretty severe case, and she may need care for the rest of her life just to make sure that she stays in alignment. I thought, “Man, now I have to live next to a Blair chiropractor for the rest of my married life.” Okay, we can do that, but I got a good idea. I thought, “Well look, I’m good with my hands, I like helping people, and... maybe I should be a Chiropractor?” So, I talked to the Chiropractor, and he convinced me that this was probably a pretty good idea.

And immediately I re-found my joy for school. I enjoyed my pre-chiropractic studies, I enjoyed chiropractic college, I enjoyed learning this very specialized technique that wasn’t even taught at the college that I went to. In fact, at the time, I don’t think it was taught at any college. But as I started going to these seminars and learning this technique and learning chiropractic,

I found real joy and excitement in thinking that I can use my hands and I can relieve suffering and I can help people get well.

And that’s really my story of how I got into Chiropractic. It wasn’t a story of me, personally, being sick and getting well, although that did happen. It was more, watching my wife get well and then thinking back about my mother and how she got well.

How can we help more people, better?

Dr. Gordon Elder discusses what chiropractic is and what to expect from him as a Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractor in Lubbock, TX

Helping more people in the best way possible is our goal.

I’m very open to using other professionals. Health is too big for any one person or any one profession.

Chiropractic; modern chiropractic started in 1895. People have been manipulating joints and bones since the beginning of time, evidently. We know the Egyptians did it, the Asians have done it the American Indians... In Europe, there was a profession called the “Bone Setters”. But modern chiropractic where we have taken western science and married it to the manipulation of joints has been around since 1895. In 1895 is was seen as a competitor to medicine, to chemistry, and surgery. And there was some bad blood between medical doctors and chiropractors. It still exists even today, however, many years this is. But they really are two separate and distinct sciences. They are both interested in getting and keeping you healthy. Chiropractic in general has many, many different techniques. There are over 200 different techniques. Some are better than others. All of them work for some people.

The question is:

“Can we help more people, better?”

So my goal as an Upper Cervical Chiropractor is to do the least possible and let your body do the most possible work because then you’re going to be stronger. You’re going to be healthier. You’re going to need me less. So we want to be as accurate as possible. We take some very precise X-Rays that look at the actual shape of your joints. We can see how they are supposed to line up. We can see how they are misaligned if they are. We correlate that with some neurological tests to see: is that misaligned bone actually putting pressure on nerves? Because if it is; it may be keeping itself from healing itself and pulling itself back. So then we decide which joints it is that actually need to be treated, to be fixed. And we slide that bone back into place, let it go back to normal. And make sure it stays that way; make sure it gets strong.

So the type of chiropractic that I practice; the Blair Chiropractic Technique is very precise and very accurate, as accurate as we can be. Now does that mean that we have reached the end and there is no more progress? Oh, I hope not! I want to help even more people. I hope there is more research done; more research that I can avail myself of, maybe that I can do myself to help my patients even more along the lines I have chosen.

However, I’m very open to using other professionals. Whether that be physical therapists, massage therapists, medical doctors, colon therapists. Because health is not… It’s too big for any one person or any one profession. My goal when a patient comes in to see me is; let’s fix the nervous system so your body can work as well as it can. And then if there’s something still left over, let’s find out who you can now go to and get the best effect from because the nervous system is working the way it is designed to.