SANTA CRUZ, SCOTTS VALLEY CA
Chronic headaches can be a nightmare, affecting every aspect of your life from your ability to sleep at night or function daily, and significantly impacts your energy and mood. Unfortunately, over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers only do so much at relieving the pain and aren’t much good at treating the frequency in which the headaches occur. Unfortunately, OTC meds are essentially a Band-Aid to the underlying cause of your chronic headaches. Therefore, if you are desperate for a way to stop chronic headaches, check out the advice on our blog today from Scotts Valley dentists that treat headaches and find out what solution may be right for you.
What causes headaches?
Headache causes can be difficult to pinpoint, although stress, lack of sleep, dehydration, and temporomandibular joint disorder can cause headaches that become chronic. Many chronic headache sufferers don’t just want to stop the pain, but also wish to prevent these headaches in the first place. If your headaches are due to a lack of sleep, then focus on getting plenty of restful sleep each night and see how your body responds, especially your head pain. Unsure if dehydration is to blame? Aim to get at least at least 64 ounces of water each day to see if your chronic headaches subside. However, there’s a lot more to treating your headaches if they are caused by temporomandibular joint disorder or TMJ.
What is TMJ and how does it relate to headaches?
TMJ is a jaw joint disorder in which the jaw joint is imbalanced, causing reduced blood flow, inflammation, and pain that radiates to the head, neck, back, and sometimes extremities. Many TMJ sufferers are unaware of their condition, although may notice pain in the jaw joints, difficulty opening their jaw wide, clicking or popping sounds when opening and closing their jaw, facial or tooth pain, and last by not least – chronic headaches.
How does the jaw become uneven or imbalanced?
Kind of like the wheels on your car, a minor change can cause significant damage. If you drive your car with a bad alignment, you’ll eventually notice that your car makes unusual noises while driving, and you may even feel vibrations or other signs that your car’s alignment needs adjusting. Just like your car, your mouth is subject to alignment issues as well, which may be due to crooked or missing teeth or teeth clenching and grinding while sleeping. It can be difficult to know whether you have TMJ disorder until you begin experiencing chronic pain, like headaches. Only a qualified TMJ dentist in Scotts Valley can properly diagnose TMJ disorder and determine your bite imbalance.
How is TMJ treated?
Before treatment, our TMJ dentists will thoroughly assess your jaw and bite to determine if you have a bite imbalance. If TMJ disorder is your diagnosis, treatment may consist of stabilizing your bite to optimum efficiency. One way to do that is by wearing a custom oral appliance at night that holds the lower jaw in proper alignment, relieving TMJ disorder and its symptoms like chronic headaches. It may take time to reach a pain-free status, although wearing your appliance is the most effective way to start managing your symptoms.
Additionally, some patients may benefit from having their bite rebuilt by installing implants in the place of missing teeth or adding crowns or other restorative dentistry to specific teeth to create an even bite. And orthodontics may also be part of the treatment plan for certain individuals with crooked or misaligned teeth. Our TMJ dentists that treat headaches in Scotts Valley will assess your needs and determine the best treatment for your case. The most important thing is to take the first step with a consultation today.
TMJ Consultation in Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, and Los Gatos, California
Chronic headaches can affect your life in many ways, but it doesn’t have to be this way. At Ebrahimian Integrative Dentistry, we provide customized, non-surgical relief to your headaches. Learn more about treating chronic headaches or obtaining a TMJ consultation by contacting Ebrahimian Integrative Dentistry at (831) 438-4411.
