Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly common condition experienced by many people after a car wreck, and it can be hard for some doctors to find the cause of the problem. Complicating the issue, oftentimes you won't experience TMJ pain until many weeks or months after a crash.
Dr. Cohen has helped many people with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical literature explains what triggers these types of symptoms. During a collision, the tissues in your spine are commonly stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve injury. This can clearly cause pain in the neck and back, but since your nervous system is one functioning unit, inflammation of the nerves can cause issues in other parts of your body.
For example, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause prickling or numbness 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 TMJ works the same way. Dr. Cohen sees this very frequently in our Hauppauge, Long Island, NY office.
Research shows that the root of many jaw or TMJ problems originates in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck injury can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The trick to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Cohen will work to restore your spine back to health, alleviating the inflammation, treating the injured tissues, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.
Dr. Cohen has found that jaw and headache symptoms often resolve once we return your spine to its healthy state.
If you live in Hauppauge, Long Island, NY and you've been hurt in a crash, Dr. Cohen can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 2003, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (631) 360-7999 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.