Alexandria TMJ Pain and Auto Injury

Jaw pain is a fairly common condition experienced by people after a car crash, and it can be tough for some doctors to diagnose the root of the problem. Complicating the issue, very often you won't experience TMJ symptoms until many weeks or months after the incident.

Dr. Wagner has helped many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the scientific research explains what causes these types of symptoms. During a collision, the tissues in your neck are often stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve injury. This can clearly cause pain in the neck and back, but since your 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 injury, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a wreck are very common because of neck injury, and the TMJ works the same way. Dr. Wagner sees this very often in our Alexandria office.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps TMJ Pain After an Auto Accident

Studies have shown that the source of many jaw or TMJ symptoms originates in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck injury can fix the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The trick to dealing with these symptoms is simple: Dr. Wagner will work to restore your spine back to health, reducing the inflammatory reaction, treating the injured tissues, and eliminating the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Dr. Wagner finds that jaw and headache symptoms often resolve once we return your spine to its healthy condition.

If you live in Alexandria and you've been injured in a crash, Dr. Wagner can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 2014, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (859) 448-0056 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.