TMJ

We’ve known for years that there is an association between neck and jaw pain as we’ve seen many patients who have neck pain go on to develop TMJ pain and dysfunction. So what, exactly, is the TMJ and neck pain connection, and how do we know for sure that it exists?  It seems, according to one study, that the answer lies in the jaw muscle and how neck pain alters how it contracts. We’ll dig deeper into this in a moment, but first, let’s review the TMJ and neck pain.

The TMJ Defined

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the joint connection between your jaw and your skull. If you run your fingers along either side of your jaw line toward your ears, you can actually feel where the jaw bone ends and the skull bone begins. If you open and close your mouth, the difference between the two is dramatic as the jaw bone moves, thanks to the TMJ joint, while the skull bone remains stable. The TMJ and any of its surrounding structures can become painful and inflamed, and this can become so bad that it can prevent patients from even being able to move their jaw bone to chew. This is why you often hear of patients with TMJ pain and dysfunction only being able to consume liquids or blended foods.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) pain? What Causes TMJ Pain?

What causes temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain? Temporomandibular joint disorder is often caused by an injury to the jaw joints or surrounding tissues. The following are other TMD causes:

• Teeth grinding at night
• The disc between the ball and the socket is dislocated
• Arthritis in the TMJ.
• Stress.
• Acute trauma.
• An improper bite.

What are common TMJ symptoms?

TMJ abnormalities are most common among people between the ages of 20 and 40, with women having a greater incidence than men. The following are some of the most frequent TMJ symptoms:

• Jaw and neck pain
• Headaches.
• Earaches (a sharp pain resonating from the inner ear).
• Pain in the shoulders.
• Difficulty opening your mouth wide.
• Locking of jaw.
• Clicking, popping, or grating sounds in the jaw joint
• Difficulty chewing.
• Tinnitus, or ringing in your ears.
• Changes in the way your teeth fit together.
• Swelling on the side of your face.
• Tooth pain.

A Deeper Dive into the Symptoms of TMJ

Why Patients with Neck Pain May Be Developing TMJ Pain

The jaw joint and the neck may seem like two entirely separate structures, but as we’ve mentioned many times, the body is one interconnected machine, and as such, we can’t examine the body as a collection of individual parts; we have to examine it as one functioning unit. When there is neck pain, this can cause the neck muscles whose job is to stabilize the neck to give up and stop working. It’s even possible the nerve supply from the cervical spine in the neck has been cut off from the muscles, perhaps due to a pinched nerve or disc issues, and this, too, can cause the neck muscles to shut down.

When something takes the neck muscles off-line, one theory is that the jaw muscles then step in to attempt to provide backup stabilization for the neck, something they weren’t created to do. In other words, the jaw muscles are now working overtime to not only do their job but to hold the head up as well. This, of course, can overload the TMJ and all of its surrounding tissues.  The TMJ can become severely damaged from all of the excess work.

In that scenario, patients with neck pain would have alterations in the functioning of their jaw muscles when compared to those with no neck pain. One study found just that. Let’s review.

New Technology Maps Muscle Contraction of Jaw

As the world of medicine progresses at what seems like light-speed at times, new technologies come down the pike that allows clinicians to better diagnose and treat patients. It was indeed a new technology—a high-density surface EMG—that provided this TMJ and neck pain connection by mapping how the supporting muscles were contracting. While before this new technology, we could study how many contractions occurred in a muscle, we couldn’t study if parts of it had a normal or abnormal contraction.

Researchers mapped jaw muscle contractions in patients with and without neck pain. The masseter muscle in the jaw was one area of focus, and the activity in this muscle was distributed differently in patients with neck pain when compared to those without. Patients with neck pain also activated, or used, this muscle more often than those without.

Non-Surgical Treatment of TMJ

Always Examine the Neck and TMJ as One Unit

At the Centeno-Schultz Clinic, we’ve always examined the neck and TMJ as one unit. One patient’s story shares a good example of why we do this. Valerie had severe TMJ pain and dysfunction and had been told she needed a jaw replacement. When she made her way to our clinic, Dr. Centeno was able to treat not only her TMJ nonsurgically using advanced orthobiologics but also her neck and other structures that were also damaged and contributing to her TMJ disorder. Watch Valerie’s moving TMJ story below.

Now that a study supports that there is a TMJ and neck pain connection and that these patients who have lost the activation of the stabilizing neck muscles are now using their jaw muscles for head support, it confirms what we’ve always known: the key to treating patients with TMJ disorder and neck pain may also be to treat the neck.

Denver Doctors that Provide TMJ Treatment

Denver TMJ Specialist

Christopher J. Centeno, MD

Christopher J. Centeno, M.D. is an international expert and specialist in Interventional Orthopedics and the clinical use of bone marrow concentrate in orthopedics. He is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation with a subspecialty of pain medicine through The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Centeno is one of the few physicians in the world with extensive experience in the culture expansion of and clinical use of adult bone marrow concentrate to treat orthopedic injuries. His clinic incorporates a variety of revolutionary pain management techniques to bring its broad patient base relief and results. Dr. Centeno treats patients from all over the US who…

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John Schultz, MD

John R. Schultz M.D. is a national expert and specialist in Interventional Orthopedics and the clinical use of bone marrow concentrate for orthopedic injuries. He is board certified in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and underwent fellowship training in both. Dr. Schultz has extensive experience with same day as well as culture expanded bone marrow concentrate and sees patients at the CSC Broomfield, Colorado Clinic, as well the Regenexx Clinic in Grand Cayman. Dr. Schultz emphasis is on the evaluation and treatment of thoracic and cervical disc, facet, nerve, and ligament injuries including the non-surgical treatment of Craniocervical instability (CCI). Dr. Schultz trained at George Washington School of…

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John Pitts, M.D.

Dr. Pitts is originally from Chicago, IL but is a medical graduate of Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, TN. After Vanderbilt, he completed a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. The focus of PM&R is the restoration of function and quality of life. In residency, he gained much experience in musculoskeletal medicine, rehabilitation, spine, and sports medicine along with some regenerative medicine. He also gained significant experience in fluoroscopically guided spinal procedures and peripheral injections. However, Dr. Pitts wanted to broaden his skills and treatment options beyond the current typical standards of care.

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Jason Markle, D.O.

Post-residency, Dr. Markle was selected to the Interventional Orthopedic Fellowship program at the Centeno-Schultz Clinic. During his fellowship, he gained significant experience in the new field of Interventional Orthopedics and regenerative medicine, honing his skills in advanced injection techniques into the spine and joints treating patients with autologous, bone marrow concentrate and platelet solutions. Dr. Markle then accepted a full-time attending physician position at the Centeno-Schultz Clinic, where he both treats patients and trains Interventional Orthopedics fellows. Dr. Markle is an active member of the Interventional Orthopedic Foundation and serves as a course instructor, where he trains physicians from around the world.

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Brandon T. Money, D.O., M.S.

Dr. Money is an Indiana native who now proudly calls Colorado home. He attended medical school at Kansas City University and then returned to Indiana to complete a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency program at Indiana University, where he was trained on non-surgical methods to improve health and function as well as rehabilitative care following trauma, stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, etc. Dr. Money has been following the ideology behind Centeno-Schultz Clinic and Regenexx since he was in medical school, as he believed there had to be a better way to care for patients than the status quo. The human body has incredible healing capabilities…

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More Resources for TMJ and Neck Pain