Head, Neck, and Jaw Connections

by Brian Dorfman

A recent jaw case deserves description here because it was both terrible in its symptomology and long lasting, yet was relatively easy to resolve using the methods described in our previous article.

Claire had been experiencing pain, tension, headaches and popping sounds from her jaw for over ten years. She believes these symptoms originated with treatment she had sought for back pain in 2000. Her neck became a focus of treatment even though she was not experiencing any pain or discomfort in that area at the time. Within a year of sporadic treatment, she began to feel a destabilization of her neck, along with pain and issues with her jaw. At this point Claire discontinued treatment, but the symptoms only got worse.  

Along with jaw tension and neck pain, Claire started to experience headaches that would not go away. The pain was so bad it would often wake her from sleep in the night. She got MRI's, X-rays, changed her diet, and did acupuncture. She also worked with various medical doctors, PT's, a neurologist, dentists, and chiropractors, as well as trying yoga and weight training, but experienced no lasting relief. By this point, Claire's situation had deteriorated to the point that when she opened her mouth you could actually see her jaw zigzag, being pulled to the right and then to the left, before it closed.  

About five years ago she was referred to a neurologist for Botox treatments during which she received fifteen injections in her neck within a week. The injections only made her neck even worse. Although her practitioner offered no explanation for the deterioration, Claire eventually learned, through her own research, that she was experiencing severe side effects to the Botox in her system.

By the time she contacted my office, Claire was despondent. She was referred to Dorfman Kinesiology due to our success in working with difficult cases. My first meeting with Claire was a video-conference during which I was able to assess her posture and alignment as well as take a verbal case history. I assured her right away that we would be able to help. And we did — quickly.

After my first hands-on appointment with Claire, her jaw and neck were significantly better. Over the following week her headaches, tension, and pain were gone. In following sessions, along with the massage work, Claire was offered the stretches and exercises she needed to continue on her journey toward a healthy structural alignment.   

And this is not rocket science.  In general, there is a simple set of principles that guides the resolution of most head, neck, and jaw disorders: extension and positioning. Extension of the neck and spine is needed to alleviate compression, just as extension in the lower back is necessary to alleviate pain in the lower back. But even more important is the repositioning of the head, neck, shoulder and jaw alignment.  For jaw cases like Claire's, patients must reorient their basic jaw position/mechanics to experience relief.    And as I explained in my previous article, the biomechanical realignment of the jaw is relatively easy to create. For Claire this proved to be true as well.

Of the hundreds of neck cases I've seen, a high percentage had jaw involvement and many had been misdiagnosed and treated incorrectly within the modern medical system. Claire's case is an extreme example of such treatment errors that resulted in terrible outcomes for the patient again and again. And as was evident in this case, one of the consistent mistakes I've seen is the failure to interrelate the head, neck, and jaw and offer treatment to address all three areas.

According to the Institute of Medicine of The National Academies, 100 million Americans experience chronic pain.  The National Institute for Health Statistics lists headaches, neck pain, and facial pain as three of the four most common areas of chronic pain with only lower back issues being more prevalent.  At BDK, however we recognize neck pain, jaw pain and headaches are interrelated and are successfully addressed simultaneously, just as was done in our work with Claire.

If you are one of those millions who suffer from discomfort or pain in the head, neck, or jaw make sure to find a practitioner who can offer holistic assessment of these critical areas and who understands their interrelated nature.  Any successful treatment model must take these connections into account.  Extend you neck, reposition you jaw and relax you head, and you will feel better forever.