Where Is Your Neck Pain Coming From?
All the muscles, joints, bones and ligaments in your body work together. If one of them isn’t pulling their weight, the others step up and work harder. That’s where the stiff, aching body pain can come from. The strain that’s placed on your muscles and ligaments if one of the joints in your body isn’t working properly can be agonizing.
Think about your anatomy for a second. Which of your joints is closest to you neck? It’s your jaw. If your jaw joint isn’t working properly, a condition commonly known as TMJ, your jaw muscles must work harder to compensate. Your tired jaw muscles recruit your neck muscles to help with the extra work. Once they tire out, your neck muscles call on your shoulder muscles. Guess who they go to when they need help? Say hello to your sore back!
You may have tried all sorts of treatments; massage, physiotherapy, and chiropractic, and raided the drugstore shelves for pain relievers, warming creams and cooling lotions. If they haven’t given you the long-term relief you need, Dr. Nancy Nehawandian urges you to consider a visit to the dentist.
Get Lasting Neck Pain Relief
TMJ refers to a problem with your temporomandibular joint, your jaw joints. If your jaw joint isn’t working properly, it’s often because your bite is not well-aligned. When your bite is misaligned, your jaw becomes stressed. To relieve its stress, it moves to a position that is more comfortable.
Trouble is, that’s usually an unbalanced position, so your jaw muscles move it back to balance. This becomes a constant tug-of-war between your jaw joint and your jaw muscles. Once your jaw muscles tire out, it can cause neck pain (as well as shoulder and back pain).
In Los Gatos, Dr. Nancy Nehawandian practices neuromuscular (TMJ) dentistry. She and her staff at Top Down Dental will assess your jaw and your teeth, diagnose any bite alignment problems you may have, and prescribe the best treatment for you.
Experience Caring Pain Relief In Los Gatos
At Top Down Dental in San Jose/Los Gatos, Dr. Nancy Nehawandian follows a simple, effective philosophy; focus on the patient and work with a caring commitment and excellence. Her team says the office has a second philosophy; treat everyone the way you would want to be treated.
Combine this philosophy with the experience and dedication of Dr. Nancy Nehawandian, a fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry, and you’re well on your way to finding lasting relief for your TMJ neck pain. Call us at (408) 354-5600 or contact us online to see what we can do for you.