Medication-Free Headache Treatment in Louisville

How do headaches and TMJ disorder connect?

Your lower jaw bone connects to the skull at the temporomandibular joint. Next to this crucial joint is a central body nerve called the trigeminal nerve that extends from the spinal cord to your jaw, face, and forehead. This major nerve assists in creating oral and facial movements when speaking, chewing, swallowing, and more. Our TMJ dentists in Louisville explain that aggravation of the cranial nerve results in painful sensations throughout your neck, sinuses, teeth, jaw, or head. In the most severe cases, patients might experience back pain or painful sensations throughout their spine when the disorder remains untreated.

TMJ occurs when the jaw joint becomes inflamed and restricts blood flow, resulting in trigeminal nerve aggravation. The painful feelings could cause be the cause of your headaches, especially when over-the-counter medication doesn’t provide permanent relief. Unfortunately, until you treat the underlying condition, the pain will not stop. Therefore, our Jeffersonville TMJ specialists encourage people with chronic headaches to seek TMJ treatment and rid themselves of pain and the need for medication.

How do I know if I have TMJ?

When you visit our Shepherdsville dental office for TMJ disorder, you can expect a thorough examination and consultation for your condition. Our dentists will use special equipment to measure and track jaw sounds and movement to help calculate your jaw misalignment and create a customized treatment plan.

Once you receive a diagnosis, treatment often begins with the use of a TENS unit and electric medical machine that stimulates muscles with ultra-low frequencies. The electrical stimulation should not be painful but feel like a tingling sensation followed shortly by relief.

Next, our Louisville TMJ dentists will stabilize your bite using a custom oral appliance that adjusts your jaw to the proper resting position. When patients wear the device as instructed, they often find jaw pain relief and more manageable headaches.

Patients with crooked, missing, or uneven teeth that contribute to the condition may require bite rebuilding treatment for long-term TMJ management. Therefore, our skilled dentists can restore your bite through dental correction and alleviate pain without medication.

Headache Relief in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Louisville, and Shepherdsville, Kentucky

Your busy day has no room for headaches, especially since they can interfere with your focus, patience, thinking, and mood. Although over-the-counter pain relievers may help temporarily, they fail to address the underlying condition causing the pain. Therefore, if you suffer from frequent or debilitating headaches, our Jeffersonville TMJ dentists at Exceptional Dentistry encourage you to schedule a consultation. Please call our office at (502) 423-7868 or contact us online to request an appointment today.