Have you ever had a headache that was so bad you could feel your pulse in you temples? This may be a tension headache due to TMD/TMJ. TMD is basically any disorder or malfunctioning of the temporomandibular joint, which is the joint that connects the jaw to the skull. It is thought to give you headaches because of all the stress and overworking of the muscles in the jaw, neck, shoulders, and face.
Why does TMD/TMJ cause headaches?
When the jaw joints are misaligned all of the muscles around them are overworked and stressed. This straining reaches out to the other muscles and nerves in the region causing tension. This lessens blood flow to the affected region. The body tries to compensate by sending more blood to the area raising blood pressure to high and creating these tension headaches. These are sometimes referred to as vascular headaches. Also, constantly grinding your teeth can overwork your jaw muscles and joints, leading to a joint problem that can lead to many other symptoms, including headaches.
Often these headaches are misdiagnosed by a doctor, not a dentist, as migraines and they might prescribe pain medication along with physical therapy. This will only mask the problem, leading to temporary relief, but the long term problem which may be TMD, will remain. Too many people are choosing to live with the short term answer and not take care of the real problem which would benefit them greatly in the future.
A dentist, especially a neuromuscular dentist, would start by figuring out if your jaw is in its optimal position. If he/she figures out that you do have TMD you could be well on your way to long-term recovery and pain free living. Many people don’t figure that a dentist could fix their headache problem, but if you understand that all of these muscles and joints work together, then just the littlest problem with this system can throw the whole process off and lead to pain.
The jaw and face area is a very complex working of bones, joints, muscles, and nerves. A neuromuscular dentist knows this and is trained to deal with all of these problems to relieve your headaches and other TMD related pain. By realigning your bite and repositioning your jaw joints you could be on your way to headache free living.
If you live in the Reston, Fairfax, or Tysons Corner areas and you think that your headaches might be TMD/TMJ related, please visit the website of experienced neuromuscular dentist Dr. Michael Chung today.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/dental-care-articles/headaches-and-temporomandibular-joint-disorder-tmdtmj-1317455.html
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