Dr. Shapira's Chicago Headache Blog
Neuromuscular Dentist in Chicago, IL Accepting Patients Nationwide & Worldwide
What All Headaches Have In Common: Migraines, Cluster Headaches, Chronic Daily Headaches, New Persistent Headaches Cluster Headaches
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEADACHES:
Question from Kasey in Pennsylvania: I always seem to have a headache that never 100% goes away, and it usually varies day to day. It can get worse by mid to the end of the day. I don't have bad jaw pain but could that be a culprit, can foods cause tension headaches?
Dr Shapira Reply: Dear Kasey,
I am sorry to hear you are spending your entire life in pain. I hope I can help ease your burden.
Most (almost 100%) of headaches are from Trigeminal Nervous System. The Trigeminal Nerve is also called the dentists nerve because it goes to the teeth, jaw muscles, jaw joints, sinuses, gums, and periodontal ligaments.
The… Read Full Post
Migraines, Cluster Headaches and Tension-Type Headaches: What is Fastest and Most Effective Treatment? What is the Safest Treatment?
The pain, agony and suffering associated with headaches of all types can rapidly destroy your quality of life. The suffering while waiting for medication to take effect can be maddening. This is even more true when an individual has chronic severe headaches.
The most common approach of patients is to try over the counter medications that all have similar issues with slow onset and negative side effects. Effectiveness varies and often only minimal or partial relief is obtained.
Non-steroidal anti-inflamatories (NSAID) are probably the most common headache medication used. This includes aspirin (Bayer), ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin),… Read Full Post
Learn to Self Administer SPG Blocks in Chicago
WHERE CAN I LEARN TO SELF ADMINISTER SPHENOPALATINE GANGLION BLOCKS?
Dr ira L Shapira teaches patients to Self-Administer SphenoPalatine Ganglion Blocks in his Highland Park, Il office.
CONTACT DR SHAPIRA THRU HIS WEBSITE: WWW.THINKBETTERLIFE.COM
LEARN MORE ABOUT SPG BLOCKS: WWW.SPHENOPALATINEGANGLIONBLOCKS.COM
Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blocks were first decribed by Sluder in 1903.
Hiram Byrd wrote "Sphenopalatine Phenomena" in 1930 which was published in 1930 and reported phenomenal success in 10,000 SPG Blocks in 2000 patients
Forgotten Medicine: New Medications and procedures become available and marketed but sometimes… Read Full Post
Hate Headaches? Orofacial Pain, TMD, TMJ, Cluster Headaches, Migraines, Tension Headaches and More.
Orofacial Pain also called oral-facial pain and Craniomandibular pain and of course TMJ or TMD was discussed in a post on the www.ThinkBetterLife.com website and is reprinted on www.IHateHeadaches.org. I am Dr Ira L Shapira and both of these sites were written by me (with help).
They are here to help you find answers to you chronic pain issues. The key is to create a better quality of life. I am enclosing a link to over 100 patient testimonial videos. Each and every patient is unique and has their own challenges but help is available.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk9Bfz6pklC7_UluWFHzLrg/videos
Ira L Shapira DDS, D,ABDSM, D,AAPM, FICCMO… Read Full Post
Lake Forest TMJ, Headaches, Migraines and Neuromuscular Approach To Definitive Personalized Treatment
The relationship of TMJ Disorders to Headaches and Migraines are well documented in both medical and dental literature. The primary connection is via the Trigeminal Nerve. The Trigeminal Nerve is often called the "Dentists Nerve" but the Trigeminal nerve is also at the center of each and every headache and migraine treated by physicians and neurologists. The science behind this connection is two-fold. The Trigeminal nerve also controls the blood flow to the anterior two thirds of the meninges of the brain.
Sinus headaches are usually treated by ENT's or Otolaryngologists but the Trigeminal Nerve is also front and center in both acute and chronic sinus pain… Read Full Post
Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blocks, TMJ, Neuromuscular Dentistry : Migraine Relief and Migraine Prevention
This article is reprinted from a post originally published on Sphenopalatineganglionblocks.com
Neuromuscular Dentistry… Read Full Post
TMJ Lake Forest: Neuromuscular Dentistry has a Physiologic Approach to Treating TMJ Disorders
Treatment of TMJ Disorders, Headaches, Migraines and Sleep Disorder are focus in new practice serving Lake Forest and Highland Park TMJ patients.
Dr Shapira created www.IHateHeadaches.org website to bring the Physiologic Approach to treating TMJ Disorders with Neuromuscular Dentistry to a wider audience and has over 10,000 unique visitors on a monthly basis.
Diagnosis and Treatment of TMJ disorders requires a wide variety of skills that most general dentists don’t acquire. The treatment of TMJ disorders is far more advanced than just the mechanical approach of mouth guard and bite adjustments. In fact, many patients get worse because invasive treatment… Read Full Post
Who Treats TMJ Disorders or TMD
Who Treats TMJ Disorders (TMD)The treatment of TMJ disorders is best accomplished by dentists who have special training in this field.
The American Alliance of TMD Organizations has established fundamental principles for TMD practice.
The Alliance and the websites of it's member organizations is an excellent place to find a dentist who treats TMJ disorders. I have the great honor of being the current Chair of the TMD Alliance. http://www.tmdalliance.com/index.html
Founded in 1995 on behalf of patients’ well-being, the Alliance of TMD… Read Full Post
Chicago Cluster Headache: Treatment and Prevention Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgia Treatment and Prevention
This was originally published at WWW.ThinkBetterLife.com which is the website for my Highland Park, Illinois website serving the North Shore suburbs, Chicago, Lake County and Cook County.
There are several patient testimonials about SPG Blocks and neuromuscular dentistry being utilized for treatment of all types of headaches and migraines.
I have added a section at the end of some of the problems associated with medications utilized for treating these conditions.
Are Spenopalatine Ganglion Blocks Superior to standard drug regimens?
I believe you must look at both safety and effectiveness and possible side effects to evaluate any and all treatments.… Read Full Post
Prolotherapy for Cervical and TMJoint (TMJ) Stability
A recent article (pubmed abstract below) on chronic neck pain should be of great interest to anyone suffering from chronic neck pain, cervicogenic headaches and / or TMJ (TMD). It is well understood that there are postural implications to both of these disorders and that much of the pain is actually muscular in origin. So what is the place of prolotherapy or proliferation therapy in treating cervical or TMJoint pain.
See my Highland Park website http://www.thinkbetterlife.com for more information on these topics.
The answer is in stability. There are numerous functions of the muscles besides moving our body parts. Muscle Splinting occurs when the… Read Full Post
