Dr. Katz, iHATEheadaches Blog

How do you deal with stress? Some people get high blood pressure, some people get ulcers. Myself, I tend to clench and grind my teeth. I wasn't always aware of it.
A few years back, I was driving with my wife to a shopping mall. What's the matter she said. "Nothing, I said. Why do you ask." She told me that since we left our drive way my jaw muscles were contracting and expanding as I was grinding and clenching away. I had never realized it. She was right . I was worrying about something and was mulling it over in my mind not realizing that I was transmitting my anxiety and manifesting my tension by grinding and clenching.

Most people clench or grind occasionally but about 10% suffer from TMJ problems and those can set in suddenly. TMJ disorders can mimic migraine headaches, earaches, sinus infection and tooth aches. it can cause dizziness, ringing in the ears, and muscle pain that radiates down the neck and shoulders.

A clenched jaw can exert up to 300 pounds of pressure which can wear and crack teeth. Over time, these excessive and abnormal forces can cause degenerative changes in the jaw joint and muscles of the face, neck and shoulders.

Once Tmj problems set in, treatment can vary depending on the cause and the condition of the jaw muscles, jaw joint, bite, posture and working and sleeping habits. Treatments can include medications, anti-inflammatories, trigger point injections, physical therapy, changing working and sleeping habits, stress management and correction of a misaligned bite.

It's important that when you experience chronic headaches you see your physician to rule out other organic cause that might be causing your headaches. But many times your problem can be of dental origin and a trained dentist in the treatment of TMJ dysfunction and head and neck pain may be your avenue to pain relief.

We know how debilitating headaches can be and our goal is to relieve your pain and give you your life back.