Beaufort, Bluffton, and Hilton Head SC
As many as 30 million people suffer from debilitating headaches or migraines. Headaches and migraines have been a medical mystery for decades, although researchers have found ways to manage the pain and treat it at its source. But to find out the cause of your headaches and whether or not your headaches are true migraines, you should schedule a consultation with a neuromuscular dentist in Beaufort, like Dr. Chris Mohler. The best way to get relief from head pain is to find out its cause. Let’s compare TMJ headaches and migraines to help you decide which one you might be suffering from.
What are TMJ headaches like?
TMJ disorder has been known to cause referred pain along the orofacial musculature or facial muscles that connect from the jaw to the head. Additionally, the trigeminal nerve, a prominent nerve branching from the brain to the eye area and forehead and the upper and lower jaw, can be affected by TMJ disorder and send referred pain signals to the brain. When TMJ headaches occur, the orofacial musculature may be strained, inflamed, and lack proper blood flow, which irritates nerves and sends radiating pain to the head, neck, and even arms and hands. Sufferers with TMJ disorder may also experience pain in their sinuses, teeth, clicking or popping sounds in the jaw joints, and pain, stuffiness, or ringing in the ears.
What is it like to experience migraines?
Scientists are still determining the exact causes of migraines, although inflamed blood vessels and hereditary genes may be to blame. But unlike TMJ headaches, migraines have specific symptoms like nausea, sensitivity to light, sound, or auras. Migraines tend to worsen with activity, or the sufferer may experience flashes of light, wavy lines, or blurred vision. While these specific migraine symptoms are typically not associated with TMJ headaches, many other TMJ disorder symptoms overlap with migraines. Therefore, physicians often misdiagnose or overlook jaw pain when treating headaches or migraines.
How to know the difference
One telltale sign that your headaches are related to TMJ disorder and not migraines is that your body does not respond to conventional migraine treatments. On the other hand, TMJ treatments do not stop your migraines, and it is for this reason that professional evaluation is necessary to pinpoint the exact cause of your pain.
If you have chronic headaches and jaw pain and want to find out if you have TMJ disorder, schedule a consultation with Chris Mohler, DDS, a neuromuscular dentist near you in Beaufort. As a neuromuscular dentist, Dr. Mohler uses precise diagnostics and data to determine jaw alignment. A thorough bite analysis, jaw movements, and biting patterns are also gathered and analyzed to determine if TMJ disorder is causing your headaches. If so, relief is within reach!
Treating TMJ Headaches
If your headaches are attributed to TMJ disorder, there are several non-invasive treatment methods. Some patients may benefit from wearing an oral appliance that slightly adjusts their bite and jaw alignment while sleeping. In turn, this relieves muscle tension, reduces inflammation, and relieves referred pain, like headaches, associated with these abnormalities. The oral orthotic is adjustable by your dentist and can be designed to fit your unique treatment needs.
Headache Relief in Beaufort, Bluffton, and Hilton Head
Are you living with chronic headaches and tired of not getting relief? To find out if TMJ disorder is causing your headaches, schedule a consultation with Chris Mohler, DDS, by calling (843) 522-1442 or complete a Contact Form to begin your pain-free journey.