Jaw Pain

Are you experiencing pain in or around your jaw? Do you experience issues when eating, perhaps unable to open or close your mouth fully? Are you clenching your teeth when focusing at a task, whilst working or battling stress in your life? Perhaps you also notice an audible click when you open your mouth, or even feel it dislocating when yawning or eating? On top of all this, are you also suffering from headaches? If so, you might be experiencing TMJ pain.

What is Jaw Pain?

Have you managed to identify the pain by placing a finger just in front of your ear lobe, then open and close your mouth? Have you noticed the difference in movement between the two sides? Also known as Temporomandibular Dysfunction (TMD), it originates from the joint between the part of the skull (temporal bone) and the lower jaw bone (mandible).

 

Causes of TMJ Pain

The jaw contains a disc inside of the joint. You can imagine this as a squishy sac filled with liquid that enables the bones to glide toward each other smoothly. Clenching the jaw excessively, perhaps due to periods of anxiety, excessive coffee/tea, hard work and deep concentration, can tighten one of the eating muscles (masseter) overlying the joint. Over time, this can increase pressure and cause imbalance of the jaw, thus causing pain.

Symptoms of TMJ Pain

The most common TMJ symptoms we see in our clinic are:

• Discomfort directly over the joint or in the surrounding muscles
• Difficulty chewing
• Sudden/permanent joint locking making it a challenge to open/close your mouth
• Dislocation
• Audible clicking
• Facial aches
• Headaches
• Ear pain

Relief and Management

The good news is, our chiropractors are here to help. We offer treatment to reduce symptoms, provide relief and offer advice to prevent it from hurting and returning. We might even refer you to a dentist for a mouth guard to relieve pressure and save you from further tooth loss.