Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly common problem experienced by people after a car crash, and it can be confusing for some doctors to find the root of the problem. Complicating the matter, many times you won't develop TMJ symptoms until many weeks or months after the accident.
Dr. Stakes has helped many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the scientific research explains what produces these types of problems. During a collision, the tissues in your spine are frequently 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 issues in other parts of your body.
For example, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause tingling or pins and needles in the arm or hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injury, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a wreck are very common because of neck injury, and the TMJ works the same way. Dr. Stakes sees this very commonly in our Singapore office.
Research shows that the source of many jaw or TMJ symptoms originates in the neck 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. Stakes will work to restore your spine back to health, reducing the inflammatory reaction, treating the injured areas, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.
Dr. Stakes finds that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we restore your spine to its healthy condition.
If you reside in Singapore and you've been injured in a car crash, Dr. Stakes can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 2005, and we can probably help you, too. Give our office a call today at 62351220 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.
