In this blog, we brought up the top 10 symptoms of TMJ (temporomandibular joint) Disorder. Today, we’re going to focus on taking a closer look at the symptoms of the face. These include:
- Jaw Pain & Sounds
- Teeth and Bite Trouble
- Pain in the Facial Area
- Ringing in the Ears
Just a reminder, your symptoms are going to be unique to you, but we want to offer you some clarity on those annoying and/or painful sensations you’ve been experiencing. Let’s get started!
Jaw Pain & Sounds
This one may appear to be obvious. As TMJ pain is centralized to your jaw joint, it makes sense that you would feel jaw pain. Either on one or both sides. But what about when your jaw makes clicking, popping, or grinding noises?
Well, the temporomandibular joint connects the jawbone to the skull—with one joint on each side. Hinge action from this joint affects your ability to chew, speak, and yawn. When this joint does not work properly, or is misaligned, popping and other noises can occur, as your jaw is not properly aligned. Pain may or may not accompany jaw sounds.
Teeth and Bite Trouble
Teeth trouble includes sore teeth or teeth that are chipped, worn, or cracked. The latter will occur due to frequent clenching or grinding of the teeth, often due to high stress levels. Grinding wears down the cartilage disc of the joint while clenching causes stress on the facial muscles.
Now sore teeth are often the result of bite problems. Misalignment of the jaw creates a misalignment of the teeth (malocclusion) which causes uneven pressure on mastication (chewing) muscles. Therefore, bite problems (jaw misalignment) leads to painful and sore teeth.
Pain in the Facial Area
If you suffer with this symptom, you may feel a tired or aching sensation in your face. You may also experience pain behind the eyes, around the ears, or actually within the ears (earaches). This is because there are many nerves around these areas of the face that come from the brain stem. When bones or muscles get overused or misaligned near the skull—as is often the case with the temporomandibular joint and TMJ disorder—they may cause significant pain in surrounding areas such as the eye socket and ears.
Ringing in the Ears
Ringing in the ears, or tinnitus, may also be heard as a roaring, clicking, hissing or buzzing sound. There are a few reasons why TMJ pain may be correlated to tinnitus. First, the chewing muscles from the jaw are near to some of the muscles that insert into the middle ear. Second, there can also be a direction connection between the ligaments that attach to the jaw and one of the middle ear hearing bones. Lastly, the nerve supply from the temporomandibular joint has been shown to have connections with parts of the brain that deal with hearing and interpretation of sound.
If you or a loved one are experiencing any of these symptoms or feeling any of these pains, reach out to your local TMJ Specialist.
We at TMJ+ believe in taking a holistic approach to treating your TMJ pain. We are proudly serving the Grapevine and DFW area and would love to help you find the best treatment plan for you! Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with one of our TMJ experts!
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