Can't Anyone Help Me With My Jaw Pain?

Does your jaw, head, or ear hurt? You may be suffering from a TMJ disorder (Temporomandibular joint disorder). There are two TM joints connecting your jawbone to your skull. Since there are so many different components involved in the construction of the TMJ you should see a doctor to make sure it's not one of the other dozens of conditions causing your pain.

After you have been diagnosed with the TMJ disorder it's time to find a treatment plan that will successfully cure you and relieve the pain. The problem with this condition is: since there are no dental or medical qualified experts specifically trained to treat the TMJ condition there aren't any established standards for the treatment of the TMJ disorder. What that means is there are doctors and dentists who claim to be TMJ doctors or TMJ specialists but there is no real TMJ doctor out there.

If you look to the National Institutes of Health for advice you will be told to look for a health care provider with an understanding of musculoskeletal disorders who has been trained to treat chronic pain conditions. If you talk to the American Dental Association or the American Medical Association you will find that neither one recognizes a single treatment of the TMJ disorder as a specialty.

Since there is no specialized training or certification processes for TMJ treatments there is a wide range of treatment options out there offered by a wide range of medical practitioners. Some of the treatment plans work for some people and some don't. Some plans can actually make the condition worse. That makes starting the treatment for your condition with therapies that are easily reversed a great idea.

Some TMJ doctors will suggest things like splints or TMJ night guards, or medications or even surgery but none of these things are proven and nothing will be right for every patient. The best advice is to figure out the root cause of your TMJ disorder and find a treatment plan that addresses the root cause and your TMJ symptoms.

A good idea for finding a TMJ doctor is to network with other TMJ patients in your area and find out whom their TMJ doctor is or what clinic they go to is. Then go see them to see if they can help you. You just want to make sure that whomever you choose to be your TMJ doctor they have experience with successfully treating patients with the TMJ disorder.