Jaw pain is a fairly typical condition experienced by many people after a car wreck, and it can be challenging for some health practitioners to identify the cause of the problem. Complicating the matter, very often you won't experience TMJ pain until many weeks or months after a crash.
Dr. Holland has treated many people with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical research explains what causes these types of symptoms. During a crash, the tissues in your neck are often stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve injury. This can obviously cause pain in the neck and back, but since your central nervous system is one functioning unit, irritation of the nerves can cause problems in other parts of your body.
For example, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause prickling or pins and needles in the arm and hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injury, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a wreck are very common because of neck injury, and the jaw works the same way. Dr. Holland sees this very often in our North St. Louis, MO office.
Research shows that the root of many jaw or TMJ symptoms begins in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can fix the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The secret to dealing with these symptoms is simple: Dr. Holland will work to restore your spine back to health, relieving the inflammatory reaction, treating the injured areas, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.
Dr. Holland has found that jaw and headache symptoms often resolve once we return your spine to its healthy state.
If you live in North St. Louis, MO and you've been hurt in a crash, Dr. Holland can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 2000, and we can probably help you, too. Give our office a call today at (314) 588-9100 for an appointment.
Ciancaglini R, Testa M, Radaelli G. Association of neck pain with symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction in the general adult population. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 1999;31:17-22.
Brantingham JW, Cassa TK, Bonnefin D, Pribicevic M, Robb A, et al. Manipulative and multimodal therapy for upper extremity and temporomandibular disorders: a system review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;36(3):143-201.
We have a long-standing track record or helping people get out of pain with chiropractic care. Whether you were injured last week, or have been suffering from chronic pain for years - It might only take one visit to our office in Downtown Saint Louis, MO to get you back on the path to everyday health.
