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Cosmetic Dentistry for San AntonioDr. Craig Carlson 400 North Loop 1604 East 210-499-4949
We Create Dream Smiles That Change Lives!
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Causes, symptoms and treatment of TMJ head and neck pain Causes Pain in the head and neck is usually caused by an imbalance in the muscles of the head and neck. This imbalance creates excessive forces on the joints that work the mandible (temporomandibular joints or TMJs) and causes them to malfunction resulting in clicking, popping or even locking of the joints.
Symptoms
The
pain may be:
* in the temporalis muscle in the area of the temples * in the shoulder area on either side of the neck (trapezius muscles) * in the joint itself (in front of the ear)
Treatment Treatment includes determining what the reason was the muscles became tense and helping the muscles relax by removing the stimulus that caused the original tensing. Chiropractic treatment, physical therapy and massage therapy can help to temporarily relax the muscles, but if the pain is chronic, these procedures are only a short term cure. The cause must be determined and dealt with. If a "bad bite" is causing the muscles to work constantly to position the jaw in the wrong place, the bite is the underlying cause and should be treated.
More information on TMJ pain, noises and problem as well as a Self Test link for TMJ can be found here.
The South Texas Center for Cosmetic Dentistry |
