Asheville TMJ Pain and Auto Injury

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

Dr. Myers has helped many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the scientific literature explains what triggers these types of symptoms. During a crash, the tissues in your neck are commonly 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, irritation of the nerves can cause issues 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 a collision are very common because of neck injury, and the jaw works the same way. Dr. Myers sees this very commonly in our Asheville office.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps TMJ Pain After an 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 injury can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The secret to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Myers will work to return your spine back to health, alleviating the inflammatory reaction, treating the injured areas, and removing the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

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

If you reside in Asheville and you've been injured in a crash, Dr. Myers can help. We've been treating auto injury patients since 2009, and we can probably help you, too. Give our office a call today at (828) 676-0963 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.