Jaw pain - Winchester Spine Centre

Jaw pain

JL had jaw pain for years, here is how she found relief.

Here is what she told me

“I have ongoing jaw pain and a neck issue which is really affecting my quality of life, I have had pain for 10 years and it’s been worse over the past four years since having my children.”

She said ”I want to be the energetic, fun mum that I’d always imagined I’d be. At the moment, I have no energy for exercise, can’t commit to social events because I don’t know whether headaches and a complete lack of energy will make it impossible.”

JL told me that 10 years ago she had fallen from a height and hit her head from which she had not appeared to suffer any immediate consequences. Her lower wisdom teeth were also removed under general anaesthetic around the same time. It was not long after this however that she began to experience severe headaches and fatigue for which she sought treatment.

Over 10 years chiropractic and osteopathic treatment focused on manipulation of the spinal joints and massage therapists tried to relax the tight muscles around the shoulders and neck. JL would get short-term relief but 10 years on she could still not enjoy the simple pleasures of running around playing in the park with her young family.

Having performed some standard tests to assess the function of JL’s joints and nerves it was quickly apparent that she had joint problems in her upper neck and a lot of muscular tension affecting her shoulders, neck and Jaw. These findings were not a surprise given her description of her problem and we could have set to work immediately loosening up the joints and massaging away the muscle tension. But – this had already been done by previous therapists. So, I needed to look differently at JL’s problem, not only attempting to understand what was causing her pain but why her problems kept returning.

I used a series of muscle tests starting at JL’s feet and ankles moving up through the body until most of the major muscle groups had been tested for their ability to contract against gentle resistance. Results of this testing showed inhibition (weakness and lack of voluntary control) of muscles in the right lower back, the left hip, the muscles that extend the neck (enable us to look up) and in the left wrist.

Looking in her mouth I also discovered that JL had been the recipient of some extraction orthodontic treatment as a youngster in order to resolve a problem of dental over- crowding. This is when healthy teeth are removed from children usually at the age of 11 or 12 to allow the remaining teeth room to line up. For many kids this is a big deal as it represents one of the greatest structural changes that their body will experience in early life. Where structure is changed function also must change and from this type of dental treatment there are almost always measurable consequences. Not least altered function of the jaw joints.

There is a simple test we can do which can confirm the dental structure as a cause of muscle inhibition elsewhere in the body. This gave a positive result with JL confirming the dentition, Jaw and cranial joints as prime suspects to be the principal cause of her muscular imbalance and her painful, debilitating symptoms.

Once identified as the root cause I was able to focus treatment on the joints and muscles of the cranium and Jaw (TMJ) and we began to see some more lasting improvements in JL’s symptoms.

If you have been affected by orthodontic work, including invisalign treatment as an adult call to discuss how cranial chiropractic treatment might help you.