Wilsonville, OR TMJ Pain and Auto Injury

Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly typical problem experienced by people after a car wreck, and it can be confusing for some physicians to diagnose the source of the problem. Complicating the matter, very often you won't develop TMJ symptoms until many weeks or months after the accident.

Dr. Dale Burt Johnston, DC has helped many people with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical research explains what causes these types of problems. During a collision, the tissues in your neck are often 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 issues in other parts of your body.

For instance, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause prickling or numbness in the arm and hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injury, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a crash are very common because of neck injury, and the TMJ works the same way. Dr. Dale Burt Johnston, DC sees this very commonly in our Wilsonville, OR office.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps TMJ Pain After an Auto Injury

Studies have shown that the source of many jaw or TMJ symptoms begins in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck injury can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The trick to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Dale Burt Johnston, DC will work to restore your spine back to health, decreasing the inflammation, treating the injured tissues, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Dr. Dale Burt Johnston, DC finds that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we restore your spine to its healthy state.

If you reside in Wilsonville, OR and you've been injured in a crash, Dr. Dale Burt Johnston, DC can help. We've been treating auto injury patients since 1981, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (503) 682-9046 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.