#127 Exactly How Does TMD Cause My Headaches?

There is not one dentist in a thousand who knows the answer to this question.  And the physicians fully admit they do not know what cause migraine headaches.  When the patient presents themselves to the convenient care clinic or the emergency department at the hospital with severe and recurring headaches, not one of the health care providers have any idea what is causing the pain.  In most cases they handle the complaints by prescribing one or more categories of drugs that suppress the nervous system but only temporarily.  They certainly don’t address the cause. Eventually, when the history of severe and recurrent headaches continues too long, an MRI will be ordered to rule out “brain tumor” which return as normal 99.99% of the time.  That’s why it’s so common for people with severe and/or recurrent headaches to be run around in circles, from one health care provider to the next, seeking a solution and only receiving temporary relief at best. 

We do know how TMD cause headaches.  It’s quite simple and has been hiding in plain sight for over 50 years.  If the orthopedic surgery physicians had communicated with the dentists better, headaches caused by TMD would have been solved 50 years earlier.  The orthopedic surgeons know all about it and call it “joint splinting”.   Tennis Elbow and TMD are the same disease.  Tennis elbow is best treated by resting the arm in a sling, and TMD is best treated by resting the TMJ with a device and protocol. 

Certainly, not all headaches are caused by TMD, but it is becoming more and more obvious that a very high percentage of “migraine headaches” are actually TMD headaches.  The misdiagnosis of TMD headaches as migraine headaches is pandemic. 

What we know about TMD headaches is simple and easy to explain. TMD is a series of symptoms caused by chronic inflammation within the temporomandibular joint, (TMJ).  Severe and/or recurrent headaches is the most common TMD symptom.  Roughly, 90-95% of all patients with TMD complain of headaches.  The pain can be present anywhere on the head and face and frequently moves from one spot to another without rhyme or reason.   

Chronic inflammation in a joint, any joint, including the TMJ stimulates the sympathetic nervous system to report to the brain about the damage in the joint.  The brain in turn sends a sympathetic nervous system signal to the muscles that more the jaws to contract and hold the joint still and keep it from moving in an attempt to assist with healing the damage.  All of this occurs without the patient being aware of it.  The brain signals the muscles to contract and tighten up and the pain is created wherever the muscles are attached to the bones of the head and upper and lower jaws.  The pain sensors are only located where the muscles attach to the bone.  Patients will present to the doctors and point to the area of pain exactly where the muscles are attached to the bone. Additionally, the signals from the brain often get routed to different muscles and therefore the pain can move around to different locations on the head and face.  

The solution for TMD headaches is also quite simple.  The patient is placed in an oral device that takes all the load and pressure off the TMJ like a set of crutches that takes the load and pressure off a damaged knee.  Unlike crutches which are difficult to use indefinitely, the Urbanek Device and Protocol will allow chronic inflammation within the TMJ to subside to the point where all the symptoms disappear.   

The protocol is simple.  The patient starts by using the device 24 hours per day for 2 months except while eating, and then only while sleeping for the rest of the person’s life. The chronic inflammation in the joint dissipates, the signals to the brain decrease, the muscles do not receive signals to contract, and the headaches are eliminated. 

Now you know how TMD can cause headaches.  You also know how using the Urbanek Device and Protocol makes the headaches disappear.