Jaw pain is a fairly typical condition reported by people after a car wreck, and it can be confusing for some physicians to find the source of the problem. Complicating the issue, many times you won't experience TMJ pain until many weeks or months after the incident.
Dr. Jung has helped many individuals with jaw pain after an injury, and the scientific literature 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 damage. 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 instance, 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 collision are very common because of neck injury, and the jaw works the same way. Dr. Jung sees this very often in our Pinole office.
Studies have shown that the root of many jaw or TMJ problems starts in the neck and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can fix the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The secret to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Jung will work to return your spine back to health, alleviating the inflammation, treating the injured areas, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.
Dr. Jung has found that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we restore your spine to its healthy condition.
If you live in Pinole and you've been injured in a car crash, Dr. Jung can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 2003, and we can probably help you, too. Give our office a call today at (510) 243-7500 for an appointment or consultation.
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.