Migraine triggers Such As Smells Are A Trigeminal Nerve Effect.

A study from Department of Neuro-Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston showed that "Trigeminal nerve fibers in nasal and oral cavities are sensitive to various environmental hazardous stimuli, which trigger many neurotoxic problems such as chronic migraine headache and trigeminal irritated disorders" This study supports the use of Neuromuscular dentistry to decrease nociceptive input from the stomatognathic system into the trigeminal nerve. This should raise the threshold for environmental triggers to set of migraines.

The study by Wu J, Zhang X, Nauta HJ, Lin Q, Li J, Fang L appeared in Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Nov 28;376(4):781-6. The authors state that "the role of JNK kinase cascade and its epigenetic modulation of histone remodeling in trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons activated by environmental neurotoxins remains unknown." While they do not understand all of the chemical pathways the fact that they exist and are stimulated in the sinus and innervated by the trigeminal nerve support neuromuscular dental treatment to prevent migraine.

Another study from the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA concluded that "Sympathetic nerves enter the orbit via the first and second divisions of the trigeminal nerve and a plexus of nerves surrounding the ophthalmic artery." This would support neuromuscular control thru the trigeminal nerve of opthalmic signs and symptoms being trigeminally innervated and therefore like to respond to removal of noxioux input from the masticatory system. There is now a rational for using neuromuscular dentistry to relieve and prevent opthalmic migranes.

The authors state " Sympathetics innervate ocular structures via the posterior ciliary nerves. Sympathetic axons travel anteriorly in the orbit via the nasociliary and lacrimal nerves to innervate the sympathetic eyelid muscles. Sympathetic nerves also travel with the frontal branch of the ophthalmic nerve to innervate the forehead skin. The ophthalmic artery and all of its branches contain a perivascular sympathetic nerve supply that may be involved in regulation of blood flow to ocular and orbital structures." This again supports migraine and opthalmic symptoms being mediated by the trigeminal nerve. Neuromuscular dentistry attempts to reduce the noxious input to prevent neural input from reaching a threshold that causes pain and other symptoms.

The above study, "Human orbital sympathetic nerve pathways" was published in Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg. 2008 Sep-Oct;24(5):360-6 by Thakker MM, Huang J, Possin DE, Ahmadi AJ, Mudumbai R, Orcutt JC, Tarbet KJ, Sires BS