TMJ Pain and Auto Injury

Henderson TMJ Pain And Auto Injury

Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly typical problem experienced by many people after a car crash, and it can be tough for some health practitioners to find the source of the problem. Complicating the matter, oftentimes you won't develop TMJ symptoms until many weeks or months after the original injury.

Dr. Russell has treated many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical research explains what produces these types of problems. During a collision, the tissues in your neck are frequently stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve damage. This can obviously cause pain in the neck and back, but since your nervous system is one functioning unit, inflammation 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 numbness in the arm or 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 TMJ works the same way. Dr. Russell sees this very often in our Henderson office.

Research Shows Chiropractic Lessens TMJ Pain After An Auto Accident

Research shows that the root of many jaw or TMJ symptoms starts in the neck and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The key to dealing with these symptoms is simple: Dr. Russell will work to restore your spine back to health, alleviating the inflammation, treating the injured areas, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Dr. Russell finds that jaw and headache symptoms often resolve once we restore your spine to its healthy state.

If you reside in Henderson and you've been injured in a car crash, Dr. Russell can help. We've been treating auto injury patients since 1990, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (702) 990-2225 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.