Jaw pain is a fairly common condition experienced by people after a car wreck, and it can be challenging for some health practitioners to identify the cause of the problem. Complicating the matter, oftentimes you won't develop TMJ pain until many weeks or months after a crash.
Dr. Mark Holland has treated many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical literature explains what produces these types of symptoms. During a collision, the tissues in your spine are often 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 pain in other parts of your body.
For instance, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause tingling or numbness in the arm or hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injured tissues, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a collision are very common because of neck injury, and the jaw works the same way. Dr. Mark Holland sees this very frequently in our North County, St. Louis, MO office.
Studies have shown that the root of many jaw or TMJ symptoms starts in the neck and that treatment of the underlying neck injury can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The key to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Mark Holland will work to restore your spinal column back to health, relieving the inflammation, treating the injured areas, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.
Dr. Mark Holland finds that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we return your spine to its healthy state.
If you reside in North County, St. Louis, MO and you've been injured in a crash, Dr. Mark Holland can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 2000, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment.
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.
We have a long-standing track record or helping people get out of pain with chiropractic care. Whether you were injured last week, or have been suffering from chronic pain for years - It might only take one visit to our office in Downtown Saint Louis, MO to get you back on the path to everyday health.
