Chiropractic Treatment Can Ease Jaw Pain Related to TMJ After Auto Injury

Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly typical condition experienced by people after a car accident, and it can be challenging for some doctors to identify the source of the problem. Complicating the issue, very often you won't develop TMJ symptoms until many weeks or months after a crash.

Dr. Harrell has helped many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical research explains what produces these types of symptoms. During a car crash, the tissues in your spine are often stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve damage. This can clearly cause pain in the neck and back, but since your central nervous system is one functioning unit, inflammation of the nerves can cause pain 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 and hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injury, like your head and jaw. Headaches after auto accident are very common because of neck injury, and the jaw works the same way. Dr. Harrell sees this very frequently in our Tumwater office.

Research Shows Chiropractic Treatment Lessens TMJ Pain After Auto Accident

Studies have shown that the source of many jaw or TMJ symptoms starts in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The secret to dealing with these symptoms is simple: Dr. Harrell will work to restore your spine back to health, reducing the inflammatory reaction, treating the injured tissues, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

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

If you live in Tumwater and you've been hurt in a crash, Dr. Harrell can help. We've been working with auto injury patients for many years and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (360) 489-0635 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.