Neuromuscular Dentistry has been a leading proponent of Trigeminal Neurostimulation for the treatment of chronic headache and migraine related to the masticatory system and the Trigeminal Nerve and Trigeminovascular system. The Trigeminal Nerve is implicated in almost every chronic and episodic type of headache.
Learn more about Neuromuscular Dentistry and Headache at www.thinkbetterlife.com and www.ihateheadaches.org
The use of Neurostimulation is well supported in the literature for treatment of Headache. This recent article in Neurologic Science supports the use of peripheral neurostimulation in Primary Headache. It also shows usefulness in Chronic Migraine, Trigeminal Autonomic Cephagias and Chronic Cluster Headache.
This article discusses stimulation of the Supraorbital Nerve (part of Maxillary Division of Trigeminal Nerve) even though the use TENS as pioneered by Barney Jankelson effectively stimulates all of the branches of the Trigeminal nerve (not just Supraorbital) with electrodes placed over the coronoid notch.
The utilization of Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blocks for Migraines, Chronic Migraines and Trigeminal Autonomic cephalgias is well known. This article discusses trigeminovascular system, the stimulation of the sphenopalatine ganglion with neurostimulation for treating Cluster Headaches. I frequently utilize SPG Blocks in conjunction with neuromuscular orthotics for my Chicago headache patients. The stimulation of the SPG has been shown effective in treating Cluster Headaches. Learn more about SPG Blocks at http://www.ihateheadaches.org/blogs/illinois/labels/migraine%20treatment%20SPG.html
What makes Neuromuscular Dentistry a most effective treatment of headaches and migraines is that it utilizes neurostimulation to create a healthy state and a neuromuscular orthotic to retain this healthy state.
If you consider all headaches and migraines to be Trigeminovacular in nature than Neuromuscular Dentistry and the use of a Diagnostic orthotic should be considered the first line treatment for all headaches due to lack of potentially dangerous side effects.
The function and purpose of the diagnostic neuromuscular orthotic is to create a physiological rest position for the mandible where minimal muscle adaptation is needed to occlude and function and where function serves to reset the homeostasis of the entire masticatory and craniocervical postural apparatus.
We can use peripheral neural stimulation to treat noxius input causing headaches and migraines. We can then use out orthotic to create an environment where we can prevent these problems from recurring.
The beauty to treating these problems by stimulating the natural action of the nerves is that we eliminate toxic effects and adverse effects of the powerful medications often used to treat these problems, This should be considered the ultimate in holistic treatment of TMJ, TMD, Cluster Headaches , tension headaches and Migraines.
PUBMED ABSTRACT below
Neurol Sci. 2014 May;35 Suppl 1:77-81. doi: 10.1007/s10072-014-1748-y.
Peripheral neurostimulation in primary headaches.
Lambru G1, Matharu MS.
Author information
Abstract
Peripheral neurostimulation techniques have emerged as promising treatments for patients with medically intractable, highly disabling chronic daily headaches including chronic migraine (CM) and chronic cluster headache (CCH) besides other less common headache syndromes. Encouraging controlled and open label data in medically intractable CM and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) have suggested a meaningful therapeutic role for occipital nerve stimulation (ONS). In view of the frequent occurrence of pain in the first branch of trigeminal nerve, percutaneous supraorbital nerve stimulation alone or in combination with ONS has been used successfully in open label series of CM and CCH patients. In view of its connections with the trigeminovascular system, the stimulation of the sphenopalatine ganglion has been used as a therapeutic target for the treatment of acute cluster headache attacks, with promising results. Preliminary data in patients with epilepsy and migraine have suggested a potential efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of primary headaches. Non-invasive devices targeting peripheral nerves have been developed and initial experience is emerging for the acute and preventive treatments of primary headache disorders. This review analyses the available evidence on the efficacy and safety of the different peripheral neurostimulation techniques.
PMID: 24867842 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]