TMD: The Great Imposter

TMD/Head & Facial Pain

TMD, Headaches and Facial pain are serious life altering problems. The National Institute of Health (NIH) states that over 10 million people in the US suffer from TMJ problems. Both men and women experience these, but 90% of those seeking treatment are women in their childbearing years. Physiological differences in pain processing explains why women suffer these conditions more than men. So what is the cause of this? We don’t definitively know but literature demonstrates the main causes to be directly correlated with breathing problems (sleep apnea), chronic pain, and physical trauma. Additionally we know that if left untreated TMD problems can lead to chronic headaches, neck pain, and migraines.

By American Academy Of Craniofacial Pain (AACP)

Chronic recurrent headaches as well as facial and neck pain are a common occurrence in millions of Americans. In addition, people frequently suffer from ear symptoms including pain, ringing, buzzing, loss of hearing or clicking or locking of the jaw which can make chewing, speaking, or moving the jaw painful or difficult. Until recently these symptoms, appearing unrelated, were frequently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as migraine, tension headache, neuritis, neuralgia, or stress. When standard treatment remedies for these types of disorders proved unsuccessful, patients were frequently labeled as hypochondriacs, “it’s all in your head”, or neurotic.

Today, it is well recognized by certain practitioners within the Health Care Community that these often unexplained, undiagnosed and therefore untreated symptoms are related to a group of problems called, Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD). Today, practitioners with proper training and diagnostic skills, are able to pin point the cause of these symptoms and provide, often times seemingly miraculous, relief of symptoms which may have been present for years.

If you suffer from one or all of these symptoms, this web site has help for you. The American Academy of Craniofacial Pain desires to provide you with information about your disorder and help guide you in the selection of a health care professional who has received advanced training in the diagnosis and treatment of head, neck, craniofacial pain and temporomandibular joint disorders.

Source: American Academy of Craniofacial Pain