Jaw or temporomandibular joint pain is quite common after a car crash, even when there is no direct trauma to the face. The problem can be confusing to health care providers, as, in many cases, the jaw problems don't surface immediately after the trauma, sometimes developing many weeks or even months later.
When your spine is sprained during a wreck, the pain signals travel from the spinal column to your brainstem. Here, nerve fibers from many different areas of the body meet together before they travel to the pain hubs of your brain.
When these nerves meet, the information can get mixed up and crossed. It's similar to the arm pain felt by a person having a heart attack. The nerve signals from the heart cross with the nerve signals of the arm, and the patient feels the pain in the arm instead of the actual source.
The nerves of your jaw connect in the neck with pain receptors from your spinal column. When chronic pain signals from your injury overstimulate the nerve junctions, you can experience pain in other parts of your head, including your jaw.
And since the jaw is feeling pain, it can cause the muscles in the head to tighten, causing more pain.
Chiropractic care helps by helping your body repair the primary damage in the neck, which then reduces pain in other areas of your body.
If you have been in an auto collision, Dr. Pozarnsky is here to help. We can help identify the root cause of your pain and develop a plan of action to help you reclaim your health. We've helped many people in Fargo, ND heal from these types of injuries since 2008 and we might be able to help you!
Call our office today at (701) 893-7878 for a consultation or for more advice.