If you experience migraine headaches, you’re probably all too familiar with the unpleasant symptoms: The throbbing head pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and vision changes can be debilitating and derail your entire day. Migraine isn’t just a severe headache—it’s a neurological disorder that develops as a result of complex changes in the nerves and blood vessels in the brain, resulting in inflammation. While the exact cause of the disorder isn’t fully understood, migraine attacks are often preceded by a person’s unique triggers, which can include hormonal changes, eating specific foods, stress, inadequate sleep, and exposure to certain types of light or strong smells, among so many others.
Yet there’s one trigger that is often overlooked: temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, which is also known as TMD (but more colloquially referred to as TMJ). According to the Mayo Clinic, TMJ disorders cause pain and discomfort in the temporomandibular joint—the joint that connects your jawbone to your skull—and the muscles that control your jaw. TMJ can also cause restricted movement or “locking” of your jaw. For reasons researchers and orofacial pain specialists are still beginning to understand, the effects of TMJ disorders may also trigger headaches or full-blown migraine attacks.
“Physicians aren’t taught very much about how the jaw interacts with other physical symptoms,” Mark Abramson, DDS, a TMJ specialist and adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, tells SELF. But we do know there is a link between the two conditions: People who are diagnosed with migraine are more likely to complain of tenderness and pain in the jaw area, which can also include the entire head, neck, and shoulders. “There is certainly a proportion of people with TMJ disorders who also suffer from migraine,” Belinda A. Savage-Edwards, MD, a neurologist and headache specialist based in Huntsville, Alabama, tells SELF.
Why do TMJ disorders trigger migraine attacks in some people?
Researchers are still working this out, but have some top theories. “The muscles that are connected to the [temporomandibular] joint can go into spasm with increased use—from talking, chewing, yawning widely, those kinds of things—and [those spasms] can trigger headaches,” says Dr. Savage-Edwards. “But it’s been shown that people with TMJ disorders are actually more prone to migraine headaches than tension headaches.”
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One potential explanation for the connection, explains Dr. Abramson, is the involvement of the trigeminal nerve, a nerve that is integral to operating the movement of the jaw, but also is targeted by certain migraine medications due to its connection in generating head and facial pain.1
Another theory is that migraine attacks may be induced or aggravated by the causes and symptoms of a TMJ disorder, like teeth grinding that can set off the pain associated with chewing. “If someone always gets a headache after eating, the trigger could be the chewing itself,” says Dr. Savage-Edwards. “Or if they tend to wake up with these headaches, and are grinding their teeth and clenching their jaw throughout the night, that can also be a trigger.” Still, we have a lot to learn about the mechanics of how TMJ disorders might be linked to migraine attacks.
How can you tell if a TMJ disorder might be causing your migraine symptoms?
It might sound obvious, but if you have frequent migraine attacks and you have TMJ symptoms due to a flare, it’s likely the two are connected in some way. Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. If you have migraine and also burning or intense pain in the jaw (especially after eating or chewing), jaw stiffness, a popping or clicking noise in the jaw, an unexplained change in your bite, and/or you know you grind your teeth at night, these are all signs of a TMJ disorder, says Dr. Savage-Edwards.2 Treating it might just improve the migraine situation, although this isn’t always the case.
Source: SELF
