Trigeminal neuralgia: what upper cervical research has looked at

The pain comes like an electric shock across your face, from brushing your teeth or a breath of wind. You've been told the nerve is the problem, and the medication makes you foggy.

How we approach trigeminal neuralgia →

Illustration: the top vertebra of the neck, with fine blue nerve branches spreading out from it

Trigeminal neuralgia is one of the most painful conditions a person can live with, and many people have been through several medications and procedures by the time they search for something else. Two published reports have looked at orthogonal upper cervical care, one of them with NUCCA. Both are small, and both are described here in full.

2 studies on this page

Designs: Case series, case report
Published: 2019 to 2023
NUCCA lineage: marked on the NUCCA studies. QSM3, the method used at our office, is a progression of NUCCA.

Where these studies sit, by design and year

2 studies, published 2019 to 2023. Strongest design: case series. 1 in the NUCCA lineage, ringed.

the studies

What each study looked at

Strongest study design first. The dots show the design, from a single case (one dot) to a controlled trial (four). How to read this library

Case series2023Atlas Orthogonal

Five people with daily trigeminal neuralgia and Atlas Orthogonal care

Who and how many: 5 people with chronic, severe, daily trigeminal neuralgia, a head tilt on X-ray, tenderness at the top of the neck and a leg-length difference when lying down, at one private practice.
What was measured: Their own reports of facial pain, plus X-ray findings, upper neck tenderness and leg-length difference, over eight weeks of up to two visits a week.
What was found: 4 of the 5 reported less pain, and 2 of them reported no pain at all. 3 lowered their medication doses. 1 reported no change.
Limits: Five people, no comparison, and pain was self-reported.

Read the abstract on PubMed → Source 1

Case report2019NUCCANUCCA lineageNot indexed in PubMed

A 62-year-old woman with two years of facial pain, and NUCCA care

Who and how many: One woman, 62, with right-sided facial pain for two years, diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia after her first exam.
What was measured: How often her pain episodes came, how long they lasted and how much of her face they covered, recorded in visit notes, plus surface EMG (muscle activity) readings, over six months and 26 NUCCA corrections.
What was found: Her episodes became less frequent and shorter, and covered a smaller area of her face.
Limits: One person and no comparison, and the abstract reports no standard pain scale.

Read the abstract on the journal's site → Source 2

before you draw conclusions

What this research does and doesn't tell you

Six people across two reports, no comparison group, and pain measured by each person's own report or visit notes. It is a reason to keep asking the question, not an answer to it. Any change to medication belongs with the doctor who prescribes it.

Published research can't predict what will happen for any one person, including you. Studies report averages and single stories; your nervous system is your own. That is why The Lazar Method^™ starts with measurement, not with a promise.

We measure first, so the answer is about you, not an average.

Before any correction we measure how your nervous system is regulating your body: heart rate variability, thermal and muscle tone scans, PostureIQ™, and digital X-ray of the upper neck. QSM3, the method used at our office, is a progression of NUCCA. Dr. Jonathan Lazar, D.C., or someone personally trained by him, will go over your scans and images with you.

If we can help, we'll tell you. If we can't, we'll help you find someone who can.

Talk it through on a 15-minute Clarity Call →

This page is educational and is not medical advice. Keep the doctors who know you in the loop.

citations

Sources

Ierano JJ, Richards DM. 2023. Atlas orthogonal chiropractic management of trigeminal neuralgia: A series of case reports. Explore (NY) 20(1):70-78. PubMed 37344335 · DOI 10.1016/j.explore.2023.06.004
Cramer J, Persky A. 2019. Reduction of Chronic Trigeminal Neuralgia Following Upper Cervical Specific Chiropractic Care: A Case Report & Review of the Literature Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research September 9, 2019:56-62. Not indexed in PubMed. Article page on vertebralsubluxationresearch.com

Titles are quoted exactly as published. Sources checked 2026-11-03.

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