TMJ SYNDROME AND DISFUNCTION - Chiropractic Treatment for Temporomandibular Joint

TMJ SYNDROME AND DISFUNCTION

The Temporomandibular Joint

If you place your fingers in front of either ear and open your jaw, you'll feel changing shapes beneath your fingers. You are feeling the joint where the temporal bone of your skull attaches to your mandible (jaw)-the joint that is called the temporomandibular joint or TMJ. This fascinating joint connects your jaw to your head. Ligaments, cartilage, fascia, an articular disc, muscles, nerves and blood vessels run in, around and through the TMJ.

Symptoms Of TMJ

TMJ dysfunction or syndrome occurs when the joint is misaligned or malfunctioning in some way that subjects it to excess pressure. The condition was first identified in 1934 by an otolaryngologist, J. B. Costen.

Among the most common symptoms of TMJ dysfunction are the inability to open the mouth wide and a clicking or popping sound when the mouth opens or closes. In some cases, the jaw can even temporarily lock up.

Other TMJ symptoms can be severe headaches; loss of hearing; tinnitus (ringing in the ears); the sensation of an object in the throat; facial swelling; shoulder, cheek or jaw joint pain; neck ache; tic douloureux (facial nerve pain); pain in or under the ear, the eye or upon swallowing; tooth pain; migraine: nausea; blurred vision and dizziness.

Some researchers have even linked TMJ dysfunction to throat infections, sinus congestion, ear infections and asthma. Others have linked the syndrome to heart, stomach, intestinal, respiratory and emotional disorders.

Who Gets TMJ?

According to John D. Laughlin 111, president of the Holistic Dental Association:

Up to seventy-eight percent of the general public (over 175 million) have some amount of TMJ disfunction. This condition can begin during the birth process... One of the primary causes can be poor nutrition. TMJ affects more women than men, with high stress "superwomen" being very prone to it.

Causes Of TMJ

TMJ may be caused by trauma: a child may fall on its sacrum and in time, through the adaptive body mechanisms, the pelvic imbalance can affect the TMJ, head and neck.
According to Dr. Gerald Smith, a specialist in the field of structural dentistry, dental work specially improperly fitting braces or orthodontia-is the cause of many TMJ problems:

Chronic headaches, scalp tenderness, pains behind the eyes, muffled ear sounds, ringing, hissing or other ear distortions, balance problems, nausea, facial tightness, cervical or lower back pain or restriction of neck motion should all be thoroughly investigated for possible implication in cranial distortions, especially if they appear within days after braces are placed.... These same symptoms may surface within a period of six months to several years.

According to Dr. Daryl Curl, who holds degrees in both dentistry and chiropractic, orthotics (braces, crowns, etc.) may contribute to or worsen a patient's head-pain complaint?

Sometimes the head pains caused by ill-fitting