Chiropractic Care and Temporomandibular Disorder - Why Do the Head and Neck Hurt?

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ), otherwise known as the jaw joint is associated with the upper cervical vertebrae. The muscles that move the jaw are largely innervated by the fifth cranial nerve, referred to as trigeminal nerve. Trigeminal nerve is one of the most complex and powerful nerves in the human body. It is completely responsible for your jaw and tooth functions. It provides sensation to your jaws, face tongue, sinus, palate, eyes, teeth, and lips.

The nerve accounts for approximately 40% of the brain's processing. The brain uses 40% of its energy trying to figure out what the trigeminal nerve is sending to and from it. It is also associated to the facial, hypoglossal, and vagus nerves. These nerves are responsible for sensation and function of almost all other muscles of the head, neck, and throat. Many branches of these nerves pass through the jaw joint wherein if one of them is strained, the rest of the nerves may get affected as well.

The jaw joint is one of the most complicated joints in your body, with a complex arrangement of muscles and ligaments allowing various types of movements. Any problem that stops the muscles, ligaments, discs and bones from working normally together can cause temporomandibular disorder, a disorder that is painful to the jaw joint. Having this condition, a person may experience incorrect bites, jaw clicking, grinding and notching of the teeth, not to mention severe headache and acute neck pain.

An incorrect bite may mean a lot of stress and pressure being placed on your jaw. Sometimes in severe cases, a person with TMD can barely open his or her mouth widely, or will feel clicking, cracking or a "pop" upon opening. Often, patients report the onset of the jaw joint disorder occurring with some sort of unusual stress, such as final exams, or work-related issues.

In most cases, people rely on chiropractic care because it has been proven to be more effective than taking medications, not to mention it helps patients by using approach that is gentler, cheaper, and safer than what traditional care can provide. Surgery can also be an option for treating TMD. However, it is expensive and it takes time away from work and other activities during recovery, and it can be dangerous as well.

If you have TMD, chiropractic manipulation may be recommended with the aid of massage, ice/heat therapy, and some specific exercises. In most cases, your chiropractor's first goal is to eliminate the symptoms, particularly pain. Along with the treatment, your chiropractor may recommend specific exercises such as stretching and strengthening exercises. Stretching exercises helps to relax tight muscles, while strengthening exercises helps to tighten loose muscles.

Chiropractic care works well with disorders which are mechanical in nature thus it is very effective with TMD. This is the most preferable than any other options. Problems are more closely examined and eliminated by focusing on the underlying cause itself.