What is the TMJ?

One of the most important joints in the body is the temporomandibular joint or TMJ. This joint is located where your jawbone joins your skull just in front of your ear. While it is small in size, the symptoms that can be created by imbalances in its function can be wide reaching and sometimes debilitating.

How common are problems with this joint?

About 4% of the general population suffers from TMJ disorder. However, if you consider that a person has a TMJ imbalance if it causes symptoms like headache, dizziness, muscle pain, etc., then the estimates start at 20% of the population and go up.

What causes TMJ problems?

• Stress
• Bruxism or clenching of the teeth,
• Malocclusion due to your teeth not meeting properly when you bite
• Trauma. Trauma can be from an accident or from repetitive disuse of the joint. An example would be chewing only on one side of your mouth.

What symptoms associated to imbalances in TMJ?

• Almost any symptom of head and neck pain could have as at least part of its cause an imbalance in this joint.
• These include pain and ache in the jaw, teeth, sinuses, behind the eye, in the ear, on the side and back of the head.
• Pain and restriction in your shoulder and even changes in how you walk. A study published in the late 1970’s showed that there was a correlation between many causes of scoliosis and TMJ problems. The author’s summary, a dentist, was that a chiropractor and a dentist should examine every scoliosis patient.

• The major signs and symptoms of TMJ dysfunction consist of pain, tenderness, joint noise and limitation in opening your mouth. It is usually one sided, and may be localized or wide spread and may be referred to any area of the head.
• The pain is often worse after eating or upon awakening if you clench or grind your teeth at night. Tenderness, in the muscles of chewing or at the back of the head, is found in the vast majority of patients Read the rest of this entry »