Albertville, AL
People who suffer from chronic headaches may visit their primary care physician in hopes of a diagnosis and effective treatment. In some cases, the treatment your physician provides can reduce the intensity of your headaches, but doesn’t address the frequency in which the headaches occur. Unfortunately, many doctors simply prescribe pain-relieving medication to headache sufferers, never really addressing the underlying cause of their pain. Unfortunately, while you may experience relief at that moment, your headaches reappear. Living with chronic headaches can interfere with your daily life, family, work, and relationships. Therefore, our Albertville dentists who treat chronic headaches at Wall Street dentistry share possible causes of your unexplained chronic pain and how we can help alleviate the frequency of these painful symptoms.
What could be causing your headaches?
If you have frequently occurring headaches and are tired of relying on pain-relieving medication, consider seeing a TMJ dentist that specializes in bite and jaw alignment. TMJ disorder is a common condition that causes frequent headaches. While there are other TMJ symptoms, the most commonly reported symptom is chronic headaches. TMJ disorder can develop from a misaligned bite, sustaining an injury that impacted the jaw or head, or clenching and grinding their teeth when sleeping. Our Albertville TMJ dentists explain that a minor issue with the temporomandibular joint can affect jaw function and your bite. If the condition remains untreated, the problem can compound and spread to surrounding soft tissues such as muscles and nerves, decreasing blood supply, and sending pain signals to the neck, shoulders, or back.
TMJ disorder symptoms can vary from patient to patient, but all patients have one thing in common, pain. The temporomandibular joint is very close to the trigeminal nerve that transmits sensory information to your brain. Nerve compression, irritation, or aggravation caused by inflammation can send pain impulses to your brain that cause headaches. Therefore, it should be no surprise that most chronic headache sufferers seek migraine treatment. Unfortunately, many people who suffer painful headaches regularly get misdiagnosed as having migraines. Our TMJ dentists in Albertville explain that although prescription medication can reduce headache intensity, it won’t alleviate the underlying condition causing pain. Therefore, reoccurring headaches are likely.
TMJ adverse effects on musculature and nerves may lead to pain in your jaws, ears, neck, face, shoulders, or back. For some patients, TMJ disorder is debilitating and prevents normal daily functions.
How can I alleviate my headaches and stop them from occurring?
Our Albertville dentists who treat chronic headaches use leading-edge technology to alleviate pain caused by TMJ disorder. Our first pain-reducing method is using a TENS system. The ultra-low frequency treatment exposes compressed muscles to gentle electrical pulses that increase blood flow and encourage endorphin production. Even though the treatment may sound painful, most patients claim it provides instant relief when suffering from TMJ disorder.
Once you experience relief from your pain, addressing joint dysfunction with an oral device known as an orthotic is next. When sleeping, oral appliance therapy requires wearing a custom-made oral appliance that aligns your jaws and reduces temporomandibular joint stress, effectively reducing inflammation responsible for the frequency and intensity of chronic headaches.
Chronic Headache Relief in Albertville, and Boaz, Alabama
Waking up every day with a headache that interferes with your daily to-do list can be frustrating, especially if the pain is debilitating. Even though over-the-counter or prescription medications can reduce headache intensity, they can’t address the underlying conditions in your jaw joint. Our Albertville neuromuscular dentists that treat jaw pain can find and restore your jaw’s ideal alignment and alleviate daily pain. If you suffer from chronic pain in your face or head, please call Wall Street Dentistry at (256) 878-0525 or contact us online to schedule a consultation so that we can help you reclaim pain-free days.