MIGRAINE HEADACHE(Keywords: MIGRAINE HEADACHE, chiropractic, TMJ ANATOMY, TMJ ear pain, TMJ exercises, ANTICHOLINERGIC SIDE EFFECTS)Interestingly, 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.
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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)
You'll notice that the upper cervical spine facet joints lie immediately approximate to the Trigeminal sensory nucleus in the upper neck. Whilst a jaw joint lesion may cause neck pain, it's likely that the opposite is true: An upper cervical subluxlation has an effect on the Trigeminal nucleus, firing pain in the face, jaw and side of the head causing the amongst other things the typical migraine headache. In summary, cervical spine and 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. TMJ surgery is not common, and I'll never forget a lecture by a specialist surgeon on the subject who remarked: The norm is Observe TMJ surgery, Do TMJ surgery, Teach TMJ surgery. 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.COSMETICSThis jaw is certainly getting smaller as we chew less and less, making less and less room for the teeth. The resulting disfigured teeth and overbite / underbite have become a problem, particularly for girls.It may be my imagination, but at the Chiropractic Coalface I have been seeing an increasing number of young women in particular suffering from migraine headaches, facial and the TMJ pain - with a history of braces and sometimes surgery to reshape the jaw and align the teeth. It begs the question: is a more beautiful alignment of teeth a worthy exchange for migraine headache? I have seen no statistics for this (doctor-caused) iatrogenic illness ... perhaps it's an uncommon side effect of dentistry and oral surgery, but I'd ask your dentist for more information before embarking on corrective braces. IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONSTMJ EXERCISES ... Return from to HEAD NECK PAIN … Go from MIGRAINE HEADACHE to CHIROPRACTIC HELP home page … MONTHLY NEWSLETTERBACK ISSUESIssue #23 Maintenance Chiropractic Care / Miracles we do at once /The miracle of fish oil. Issue #22 Slump Test for sciatica / How do grow radishes ... Issue #17: Facial Pain / Mussel Facts Issue #16: Obesity in the Chiropractic Clinic / Flax seed Issue #15: Breastbone pain / Broccoli Issue #14: Hip and Groin pain / Statins for lowering cholesterol ... Issue #03: How to stop falling / Danger of a low fat diet Issue #01: Tingling in the arms and hands / Apples (PS. If you find them irrelevant to your needs or an exercise in tedium, one click will UNsubscribe you.) MIGRAINE HEADACHEDid this page contribute to your understanding of headaches? Then please forward Migraine Headache to a friend suffering from this misery. |
PROTEIN
I'm starting with the vegetable sources, not because I'm suggesting you become a vegetarian, but because there's much research indicating we should eat less animal protein.
Vegetable protein
TOFU NUTRITION
Green snap beans are nearly 2% protein.
CHICKPEAS
AUTHENTIC HUMMUS RECIPE ... make it in 4 mins
LENTIL PROTEIN ...throw a handful in whenever you cook rice.
Fish protein
WAYS TO COOK SALMON
SMOKED SALMON DIP RECIPE
Free-range Chicken
CHICKEN BONES ...for osteoarthritis
Guineafowl, pheasant, wild duck... if you can get it.
Red meat
A omega-3/ omega-6 ratio of almost 1 is excellent. Cornfed beed raises the omega-6 alarmingly creating an arthritic tendency.
We avoided pork in Europe. It has absolutely no taste... but if you can find free range pork... be prepared to pay extra, just eat less. Worth every cent.
MUTTON STEW