Are Your Headaches and Jaw Pains Really Symptoms of a Condition Called TMJ Disorder?

An estimated 10 million Americans have what is known as a TMJ disorder. TMJ disorder is actually a term used to describe a group of conditions centered on problems with the jawbone joint or TMJ (temporomandibular joint). Sometimes it is a painful condition ranging from minor discomfort to severe pain and there are many different body parts that can potentially be affected.

There are also several other terms used for this condition. There is TMD (temporomandibular joint disorder), TMJ syndrome, simply TMJ, and other names as well.

The groups of people most at risk of having the TMJ disorder are women between the ages of 30 and 50 who clench their jaw or grind their teeth in their sleep, have a metabolic or nutrition disorder, have a high stress level and have malocclusion (bad bite). Scientists are currently doing research to discover if there is a link between female hormones and TMJ disorder since this condition afflicts twice as many women as men.

The TMJ (jawbone joint) is made up of many different components including bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, a disc between the bones much like the discs in your spine, and other connective tissues. Your TMJ is also one of the most used joints in your body since it's used to eat and talk.

Besides headaches and a sore jaw another symptom of the TMJ disorder is when your jaw makes a clicking or popping noise as it opens or closes. Many people actually have this symptom but if there isn't any pain associated with it there isn't any reason for treatment. Even if there is a little pain associated with this symptom it will only be temporary or happen in cycles.

Some doctors believe the leading cause of this disorder is stress. They think that stress causes patients to grind their teeth in their sleep. Then, by grinding their teeth, they damage the TMJ and cause the disorder. Other doctors think patients will develop the disorder and the pain and discomfort will cause the patient to develop high stress levels.

The only thing for sure right now is; there is no established test for diagnosis, there are no established treatments that are proven, and there are no specialized training courses so there are no real TMJ specialists.

What are you supposed to do? Most medical experts advise that if you have TMJ symptoms you should find a dentist with experience treating patients with TMJ symptoms and work out a therapy plan that uses only conservative and reversible treatments. If any surgery or irreversible treatment such as occlusal therapy (grinding teeth down or using crowns or bridge work to permanently change your bite) is suggested you should get more opinions and try everything else first.