TMJ Headaches may be Helped by an Oral Surgeon

TMJ and TMJ headaches hurt, plain and simple.

There's quite a bit of information on the Internet about TMJ. After you talk to your Dentist, or oral surgeon, and get the scoop on your TMJ condition, head to your PC, and read everything about TMJ you can.

And also, request cat scans if for some reason they don't say anything about them.

I would imagine a oral surgeon would, although as we said on the last page, the first neurologist my wife went to just said her headaches were caused by TMJ, and then sent her to a headache doctor. If we had been more informed, she may not need a jaw replacement now.

If your condition continues despite medication and other treatment procedures, you may have to have surgery. And the one that will be able to explain that to you better than a web site (each case will be different) will be the surgeon that's going to preform the TMJ surgery.

You may have some TMJ relief if you would stick to a soft diet when you eat. Also applying hot or cold to the inflamed area several times a day may help.

Some more minor TMJ treatments you could do would be to ask your better half, or friend watch you sleep (I know, a drag), and if you clench or grind your teeth, tell your dentist to see what he can do to help.

On the average, TMJ symptoms will involve more than one of the numerous TMJ components, such as muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, bones, connective tissue, and the teeth. So you can see why a TMJ headache could slip in there before you realize it.

My wife's oral surgeon says she has what he called a stump, instead of the support between her lower, and upper jaw. And this came about slowly due to arthritis, without much pain. Something we never suspected. TMJ dysfunction may come about, after having your wisdom teeth extracted also.

TMJ headaches are often experienced by TMJ sufferers. I've read in some articles that your dentist can take care of your TMJ. Mine pulls teeth, and fills teeth and makes a good living at it. Now grant you, he will make you a set of false teeth if that's what you need, but for TMJ, he is just not qualified. How about your dentist? I would be willing to bet that many dentist aren't.

Find an oral surgeon through your dentist if you have the above symptoms, and have a Cat Scan, or MRI, and get his expert opinion if you think you are having TMJ headaches, or any other TMJ symptoms. Don't put this off. Remember the frog on our other page?

A diagnosis for TMJ could be examining to see how much motion you have of your jaw. Also fluid may be drawn to see if there is any infection in your jaw.

As we said in our last page the treatment for TMJ could be as simple as using common sense. Mild jaw exercises,( your doctor can help with your TMJ exercises) a soft diet (you can think on that one), and also anti-inflammatory drugs bought at your local store, plus using moist heat packs, or cold altered, may relieve your TMJ in a few weeks.

Your doctor may also inject steroids in your TMJ. My wife has had these in her head for migraines (maybe caused by TMJ), and it takes a week or so to feel the relief.

Also, your TMJ condition may be just temporary.

I gave you an example of my wife, which was more on our last page not to scare you, but find out EXACTLY what is wrong, and get the appropriate treatment for your TMJ headaches, even if you haven't experienced them yet.

You know, an ounce of prevention!!!!

Also, muscle relaxants, antidepressants, and some other drugs may be prescribed . If you have headaches from your TMJ, you know all about the medicines. They are prescribed for headaches and migraines as preventives.

Your temporomandibular joint, or TMJ joint is a small joint.

It consist of the ball, the socket, and a small, fibrous disk, which acts just like a shock absorber between the ball and socket. (That's what's wore down in the better halfs.)

I watched a video on one type of TMJ surgery called an arthroscopy surgery. This procedure isn't as invasive as Open Joint Surgery. A small insertion was made, and a thin instrument was inserted that was hooked to a video screen and monitor. The surgeon could then look, and preform what needed to be done. The last procedure, Open Joint Surgery is more invasive.

This would be the one my wife would have. The jaw is opened up around the TMJ.

Something to remember. If your oral surgeon wants to preform surgery, go for a second, and even a third opinion. Don't go into this lightly, for you "can have" nerve injury,and scarring on your face.

Below is a video that explains more.

Our last page is giving info on the symptoms and treatments of a Tmj headache

We hope these two pages have helped you with a little knowledge on TMJ headaches. All the best

Here's our next page on alcohol headaches. Alcohol is a migraine trigger in many people.

Home page from TMJ headaches

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