124 E 40th Street Suite 301, New York, NY 10016
Jaw pain is a fairly typical problem reported by many people after a car crash, and it can be confusing for some physicians to identify the source of the problem. Complicating the matter, oftentimes you won't develop TMJ pain until many weeks or months after the original injury.
Dr. Phelts has helped many individuals with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical research explains what causes these types of symptoms. During a crash, the tissues in your spine are often stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve damage. This can clearly cause pain in the neck and back, but since your central nervous system is one functioning unit, irritation 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 pins and needles in the arm or hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injured tissues, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a wreck are very common because of neck injury, and the TMJ works the same way. Dr. Phelts sees this very often in our New York office.
Research shows that the source of many jaw or TMJ problems begins in the neck and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can fix the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The secret to resolving these symptoms is simple: Dr. Phelts will work to restore your spinal column back to health, decreasing the inflammatory reaction, treating the injured areas, and eliminating the irritation to the nerves in your spine.
Dr. Phelts finds that jaw and headache symptoms often resolve once we restore your spine to its healthy condition.
If you reside in New York and you've been hurt in a car crash, Dr. Phelts can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 2003, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (212) 286-2012 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.