Depew TMJ Pain and Auto Injury

Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly common problem experienced by many people after a car accident, and it can be tough for some physicians to diagnose the source of the problem. Complicating the matter, oftentimes you won't develop TMJ pain until many weeks or months after the incident.

Dr. Palmer 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 crash, the tissues in your spine are oftentimes 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, irritation 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 pins and needles in the arm and hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injured tissues, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a wreck are very common because of neck injury, and the TMJ works the same way. Dr. Palmer sees this very often in our Depew office.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps TMJ Pain After an Auto Injury

Research shows that the root of many jaw or TMJ symptoms starts in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck injury can fix the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The trick to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Palmer will work to restore your spinal column back to health, decreasing the inflammation, treating the injured areas, and eliminating the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Dr. Palmer finds that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we return your spine to its healthy state.

If you live in Depew and you've been hurt in a car crash, Dr. Palmer can help. We've been treating auto injury patients since 2002, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (716) 668-2225 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.