SCOTTS VALLEY, SANTA CRUZ, CA
Occasional headaches may be due to stress, allergies, or dehydration, easily remedied with rest, rehydration, and over-the-counter medications. But, people who live with frequent and debilitating pain often seek additional remedies that reach beyond over-the-counter or prescribed drugs. Our expert dentists that offer temporomandibular joint disorder treatment in Scotts Valley take a medicine-free approach for headache relief for patients who have a misaligned jaw or suffer from TMJ disorder. Find out more below about TMJ disorder and how you can get rid of headaches without medication.
How does TMJ cause headaches?
The location where your jaw connects to your skull is the temporomandibular joint. In addition, a central nerve called the trigeminal nerve extends from your spinal cord and branches out through your face, jaw, and forehead. As the complex cranial nerve becomes aggravated, it can send painful sensations to your teeth, jaw, eyes, neck, sinuses, and head. Severe cases may send pain radiating to your spine and cause back pain.
Jaw joint misalignment causes inflammation that restricts the blood supply and irritates your trigeminal nerve. Your frequent headaches could come from the irritation and why your pain medication seems to wear off or not provide much relief. Our Los Gatos dentists who treat TMJ explain that there are more options than pain medicine to stop your headaches.
How do I know if I have TMJ disorder?
Our experienced TMJ dentists in Santa Cruz can diagnose TMJ disorder using cutting-edge dental technology that tracks your jaw movements. The software computes your jaw misalignment, providing crucial treatment information. With additional examinations, our dentists can determine a precise path to correct your jaw alignment and relieve the irritation that causes your headaches.
What treatments are available for TMJ patients?
Medication-free treatments are available to relieve headache pain over the long term. When the underlying pain cause gets treated and the inflammation subsides, you should feel relief from headaches and jaw pain. Each patient requires customized treatment, and no two treatments are exactly alike. However, in some cases, our Scotts Valley TMJ dentists begin with muscle relaxation by using a TENS unit that uses ultra-low frequencies of electrical stimulation. Although it may sound painful or scary, our qualified TMJ dentists can adjust the machine settings to match your comfort level.
TMJ disorder and how your jaws clench together when biting go hand in hand. The next step we make is to stabilize your bite. Our Los Gatos TMJ dentists will create a custom-designed oral appliance that properly aligns your jaw and relieves jaw strain. Finally, wear your device according to our provided directions to experience relief and manage your headaches.
Headache Relief in Los Gatos, Santa Cruz, and Scotts Valley, California
The diagnosis and treatment of TMJ disorder require the knowledge and experience of a TMJ specialist in Scotts Valley. Through long-term management, rehabilitating your bite, you could live pain-free and no longer need medication every day for headaches. If you suffer from headaches and want a medicine-free treatment that removes the pain at its source, schedule a consultation with one of our Santa Cruz dentists who treat TMJ at Ebrahimian Integrative Dentistry. Feel free to call our office at (831) 438-4411 or schedule an appointment online.
