MIGRAINE HEADACHEInterestingly, research shows that migraine headache sufferers, clench their Temporalis muscles 14x more often whilst they are asleep than normal people. The reasons for this are complex, but without a doubt, TMJ anatomy has some of the answers. The aim in migraine prevention is to limit the amount of negative sensory input (that is, to limit your migraine "triggers") to that huge Trigeminal Sensory Nucleus in the upper neck. Even cold draughts to the face can be perceived as noxious stimuli to the face, but certainly too much yacking, chewing, heavy massage of the muscles, and over stretching of the jaw. Stress and conflict too, which may cause grinding and gnashing of the teeth at night. Over-opening of the jaw in dental work, for example Wisdom tooth extraction, may be a factor, particularly if done under general anaesthetic. This sets up a pattern where the sensory Trigeminal nucleus starts to bombard both it's own motor nucleus, causing the jaw muscles to contract, especially while you are asleep, and those muscles in the neck. Upper neck pain is often an accompanying symptom found along with jaw pain, Temporalis muscle pain and Migraine headache. That Trigeminal nucleus may also bombard other cranial nuclei found close by in the brain stem, causing nausea, pulsating arteries, dizziness and senstivity to light and sound, and pain in the neck. Bruxism, or grinding your teeth we will consider on another page.
TRIGEMINAL NERVENotice in this next diagram three things:One last important gem: this Trigeminal nucleus, running down into the neck, is then continuous with the dorsal column which travels right up the spinal cord, bring information from the whole body. And this feeds right into the motor nucleus of CN5 which drives the muscles of the jaw.
DIAGNOSIS"When a patient reports an intense pulsating headache lasting at least 4 hours, accompanied by either nausea, photophobia or phonophobia; their daily activities are limited; and all diagnostic tests are within normal limits, then the diagnosis is migraine."
PRODUCTIVITYMigraine headache causes in the USA alone a staggering 17 billion dollars in lost productivity.Midrin, a common drug used to relieve Migraine headaches, contains Acetaminophen, the most common cause of liver failure. Do your uttermost to avoid drugs with AntiCholinergic side effects.
CERVICAL SPINE and the TMJ (jaw joint)In summary, TMJ anatomy encompasses a huge area involving your chiropractor. Face pain, neck pain, headache. It's very complex, and I'm not suggesting that Chiropractic has the whole, and simple answer. Clearly, nobody to date has all the answers, or even the majority of them. We live in a stressed society, which eats junk, chews gum, has motor accidents. We slap each other around so blows to the face and jaw are common. The result? Pain. Chiropractic has a large role to play, but your doctor, dentist, psychologist, minister and marriage counsellor should all be considered. And the oro-facial surgeon should be your last port of call.FROM THE COAL FACEA patient under treatment for lower back pain arrived for a routine consultation last month - with a blinding migraine. She had just sat for three hours with her mouth wide open whilst her dentist worked on a crown. Not a headache sufferer, it was simply because of the stretch fibres in the jaw joints complaining bitterly. I worked on the jaw joint, very painful, but the headache was over the next day. And hasn't returned.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONSTMJ EXERCISES ... Return from to HEAD NECK PAIN … Go from MIGRAINE HEADACHE to CHIROPRACTIC HELP home page …
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