How Do I Know If My Headache or Jaw Pain Is TMJ?

The most common of the dozens of TMJ symptoms is jaw pain of the chewing muscles or the jaw joint. The Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is made up of many elements and problems can arise from any of them or from combinations of those elements. There are also people with TMJ problems that have no jaw pain and their problem is with functionality difficulties.

Some other TMJ symptoms are clicking or popping noises when you open and close your mouth, difficulty opening or closing your mouth or chewing, sensitive teeth, swelling on the side of your face, malocclusion (lower and upper teeth not meeting correctly such as one side closing before the other or the front or back of your teeth meeting before the other), headaches and earaches.

If you think you may have a TMJ disorder it's very important to get diagnosed because your symptoms may be caused by something else and starting a treatment plan for the wrong diagnosis will be a waste of time. A TMJ diagnosis should begin with a trip to the dentist and if your dentist has no experience with treating or diagnosing TMJ you should get a referral for a dentist with that experience.

You may also want to visit an Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist (ENT), a chiropractor, a neurologist, a pain specialist or just a primary care physician but you will have to find someone with experience in successfully treating TMJ. Most of the time a dentist can diagnose and treat your TMJ symptoms and TMJ disorder.

There are, of course, other causes of the TMJ disorder but the most common cause is grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw in your sleep because of stress or tension. That directly relates to the most common of the TMJ symptoms being jaw pain of the muscles and pain of the TM joint itself.

If you are diagnosed with the TMJ disorder you'll want to begin a treatment plan that uses natural methods to treat your condition. The TMJ disorder is a physical condition much like a problem with a shoulder or knee and, like most physical conditions, can be successfully treated using physical therapy.

If stress is involved with the cause of you TMJ symptoms you will also want to begin therapeutic methods of reducing your stress. If you can get a treatment plan that addresses your TMJ symptoms as well as the root cause of your TMJ disorder your recovery time will be a lot shorter.