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TMJ/ TMD Articles

In Gurnee, Illinois
Serving the Chicago metro area

Headaches and Migraines

Mary's Story: Her Struggle with TMJ By Ira L. Shapira, DDS FICCMO

Mary is a 37-year-old woman who has had severe, constant headaches for the last 15 years. She has had CAT Scans, MRIs, and blood work to determine the cause of the painful headaches. She has actually felt herself hoping for something to be wrong just so people would believe her.

Mary feels guilty about how her headaches are affecting her husband and children and has no energy to socialize with family and friends. She finds herself gradually withdrawing from social contact with the world in general.

She had periodic episodes of headaches in junior high that worsened in high school. She began experiencing stuffiness in her ears and clicking sounds when she moved her jaw. Mary had been treated for ear and sinus infections on many occasions with little or no relief.

In college, Mary began to experience migraines accompanied by facial and ear pain. She would often awake with severe headaches and migraines and was beginning to think she was going crazy. She had been prescribed so many medications over the years for the headaches and migraines that she had lost track of them.

A few years later, when she woke one morning with a severe earache, she contacted an ear, nose and throat specialist who advised her that there was no infection but that she may have a jaw problem known as TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) disorder. She learned that TMJ may have been the cause of all symptoms she had endured over the years.

Mary began treatment with a neuromuscular TMJ treatment dentist who fitted her with an oral orthodontic. In a matter of weeks, her headaches, migraines, and most of her symptoms had subsided and she began to feel like herself again.

Mary is actually a composite of many TMJ patients. TMJ disorders are known as "The Great Imposter" because the symptoms can have many causes and patients often wander from neurologists to ENTs to chiropractors, finding only partial answers and minimal pain relief.

Patients like Mary have found that once the neuromuscular condition of the mouth and jaws are corrected, other pieces of the puzzle fall in to place. Sleep disruption from bruxism and clenching resolve and sometimes, with the reduction in symptoms, other specific problems can be identified and addressed.

Some resources to locate a dentist trained in neuromuscular techniques include The International College of Craniomandibular Orthopedics (ICCMO) at (800) 446.1763, American Academy of Craniofacial Pain at (800) 322.8651 or www.aacfp.org, and American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine at (708) 273.9335 or www.dental-sleepmed.org.

Ira L. Shapira, DDS, FICCMo, has been treating TMJ disorders since 1978 and sleep disorders since the early 1980s. He is credentialed by the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, a fellow of ICCMO and a member of the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain. Dr. Shapira is available via email or (800) TMJJoint (865.6468).

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If you have headaches or migraines and are considering TMJ treatment in Chicago or anywhere in the Northern Illinois area, please call or e-mail us today to schedule your initial TMJ treatment consultation.