Migraine headaches affect approximately 30 million individuals in the United States. Patients who suffer from migraines deal with severe, chronic pain that is often debilitating enough to affect their ability to function on a daily basis. Medical science has been treating migraines for decades, but still has not come to a consensus on what causes these painful headaches. Because we do not know exactly what causes migraines specifically, certain similar ailments—such as headaches caused by temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD)—often are misdiagnosed as chronic migraines, which means these painful headaches continue with no end in sight.
Any person with migraine headaches experiences a change in brain chemistry during an attack. When a migraine begins, serotonin levels decrease significantly, and the trigeminal nerve, which is the most prominent nerve of the head, emits signaling compounds that are transmitted to the outer covering of the brain, triggering impulses of pain.
While we still do not know the specific cause of migraines, MRIs and other diagnostic tests have shown that the trigeminal nerve becomes stimulated during a migraine attack. This nerve sends more sensory information to the brain than any other neural pathway—including the spinal cord.
In essence, migraine headaches and headaches caused by TMD are different varieties of tension headaches. They are linked, and often misdiagnosed because both types of headaches are triggered by impulses sent from the trigeminal nerve. TMD produces these headaches because the temporomandibular joint itself, which connects your jaw to your skull, is intimately located in proximity to the trigeminal nerve. Therefore, when the jaw joint is strained or stressed, it often aggravates this prominent nerve, and the adjacent musculature, nerves, and blood vessels.
The pain generated by TMD headaches and migraines can be quite similar. This pain may be acute, or severe, and often is described as a throbbing pain.
Other symptoms shared by TMD headaches and migraine headaches include:
Because TMD headaches and migraines have so many symptoms in common and both involve the trigeminal nerve, it should come as no surprise that many patients who actually have TMD headaches are misdiagnosed as having migraines instead. Patients who have been misdiagnosed may be resistant to traditional migraine treatments. Medications prescribed to treat migraines—no matter how powerful they may be—may manage the intensity of TMD headaches but do nothing to alleviate how often the attacks happen. Therefore, a patient experiencing TMD headaches may continue to suffer from these episodes of pain because they have been misdiagnosed as having migraines instead.
Does this sound like something you are experiencing? If so, your headaches could be caused by TMD, and the only way to find lasting relief is to treat the disorder.
At TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan, our doctors Dr. Jerry Mulder and Dr. Allyson Mulder are qualified to identify a case of TMJ headaches and differentiate it from migraines. Our doctors also have undergone extensive post-graduate training and education after dental school, focusing on how to restore the ideal alignment of the bite and jaw in the treatment of TMD. If you have been living with painful headaches for an extended period of time and have not found relief, you owe it to yourself to get a TMD evaluation. Allow the doctors at TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan to help you. Contact our office today at (616) 929-0892 to schedule a consultation.
TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan is here to serve patients in the areas of Grand Rapids, Holland, and Big Rapids, Michigan.
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