When you think of going to the chiropractor’s office you normally think of the doctor treating you for neck or back pain, right? That’s what most people think of when they think of chiropractors, but the fact is that chiropractors can treat much more than just the neck or back. Chiropractors are able to treat just about every joint in the body, due to their expertise related to the spine and the nervous system that runs from through the spine and throughout the entire body. As we’ll see in this blog, chiropractors can treat a part of the body that you would likely never even consider visiting a chiropractor for, the jaw.
A study published by the US National Library of Medicine examined patients who were showing signs and symptoms of temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD), which often causes severe pain or discomfort in the jaw. While this condition is often caused by an injury to the jaw or by an incident of whiplash, it can also be caused by grinding or clenching of the teeth, arthritis in the jaw, or stress. In addition to the pain and discomfort caused by temporomandibular joint dysfunction, other symptoms of TMD include jaws that get stuck or locked in an open or closed position, clicking or popping when you open or close your mouth, and swelling on the side of the face.
In the study, patients who presented symptoms of temporomandibular joint dysfunction underwent chiropractic treatment for an average of 13.6 visits. The average pain score reported by the patients prior to their first visit was 8.3 out of 10. After completing their treatment program, the average pain score had dropped to just 1.4 out of 10. Additionally, all of the patients in the study reported a pain reduction of some level. This study was crucial in confirming what was already widely known among chiropractors, which is that TMD can be effectively treated by chiropractic treatment.
Chiropractors treat temporomandibular joint dysfunction by alleviating tension and dysfunction in the spine. By alleviating the tension and dysfunction in the spine, pressure is relieved from various nerves that cause the pain in the jaw. While TMD pain can be ongoing, with regularly scheduled trips to the chiropractor, you can help keep that pain to a minimum and reduce the frequency at which it occurs.
If you have been experiencing pain in the jaw that you think may be a result of temporomandibular joint dysfunction, Advanced Chiropractic & Rehab may be able to help. Give us a call at (330) 726-7404 to set up a consultation and we’ll see what we can do to help you improve your daily quality of life. We have been servicing the Youngstown and Mahoning Valley area since 2001 with convenient locations in Boardman and Hubbard. At Advanced Chiropractic & Rehab we are a multi-disciplinary rehabilitation group that treats work comp injuries, whiplash, sports injuries and specializes in much more than just low back pain.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688559/