TMJ Pain Eased by Chiropractic After Auto Collision

Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly typical condition experienced by people after a auto injury, and it can be challenging for some health practitioners to find the source of the issue. Complicating the issue, many times you won't develop TMJ symptoms until many weeks or months after the incident.

Dr. Ellis has treated many individuals with jaw pain after an injury, and the scientific literature explains what causes these types of symptoms. During a car accident, the tissues in your neck are oftentimes stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve damage. This can obviously cause pain in the neck and back, but since your central nervous system is one functioning unit, inflammation of the nerves can cause problems in other parts of your body.

For example, 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 auto injury are very common because of neck injury, and the jaw works the same way. Dr. Ellis sees this very frequently in our Woburn office.

Research Shows Chiropractic Care Lessens TMJ Pain After Car Crash

Research indicates that the source of many jaw or TMJ problems originates in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The key to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Ellis will work to restore your spinal column back to health, reducing the inflammation, treating the injured tissues, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Dr. Ellis has found that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we return your spine to its healthy condition.

If you reside in Woburn and you've been injured in a crash, Dr. Ellis can help. We've been treating auto injury patients for many years and we can probably help you, too. Give our office a call today at (781) 460-0939 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.