There is more to headaches in the morning after you wake up than just a common headache people often suffer from stress or colds. The thing is that if you have a chronic headache or pain on your shoulder or neck in the mornings, you might be suffering from TMJ or the Temporomandibular Joint Disorder. This is a jaw disorder where both of your upper and lower jaws are not aligned properly. This causes a stress on the joints of your jaw that put so much pressure on the muscles and nerves around this area. This is usually the cause behind the migraines, the morning headaches or the pain you feel on your neck or shoulders. That is why if you are having these symptoms, it is best to visit your dentist for consultation.
With temporomandibular disorder, you don’t necessarily have the above symptoms. TMJ disorder can cause several dental problems as well. These are as follows:
- Broken teeth
- Loose tooth or teeth
- Toothaches
Headache or TMJ?
Whatever symptoms you might be feeling now, you have to seek professional care to alleviate the situation. With professional help, you will be advised as to what to do. The following tips your dentist can give you which produces some relief for the discomfort TMJ disorder can bring, which can be just temporary; these include:
- Resting your jaws. You can rest your jaw by avoiding unnecessary chewing. This means that you might have to avoid chewing gums or hard candies and eating soft food.
- Do some jaw exercises. Your dentist can show you a couple of exercises that you can do that is perfect for your condition. These exercises can help stretch the joints and relieve tension.
- Placing ice pack. This will help reduce inflammation.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID). These include Advil and Motrin which will help with not only pain, but also inflammation.
- Dental splint. These are custom made devices that is fitted over your lower or upper teeth. This will help to lessen the damage every time you grind your teeth or clench your jaw. There are several types of dental splints and your dentist will advise you on which will work best for you.
If your case is more severe and the solutions above don’t work, there is another method your dentist can help you with. An injection of cortisone will help reduce the pain and inflammation. Also acupuncture has been known to help with pain and inflammation and relaxing the muscles of the jaw. And if worse comes to worst, there are surgical treatment to align the jaw and get rid of the problem. For the best solution, you will need to visit the experts right away.
If you have headaches in the morning or have any other symptoms associated with above information, please feel free to call our dental office for an appointment to be evaluated for TMJ disorder. You can contact us at 323-771-7254.
By: Ladan Zinati
waking up with a headache? | St James Dental Group
June 22, 2013[…] Read more about this disorder and what you can do about it, by clicking here. […]
Ruben
June 23, 2013I wake up with a headache sometimes for no apparent reason. now I know that I may have a problem with my jaw joint!
dada vai
June 28, 2013Few days ago when i wake up in morning my head was heat like fire, its headaches. I do not understand why the headaches attack me
VIJAY
July 2, 2013this article helped me a lot.. hope i ll get to a specialist soon bcoz i hav been suffering from a similar headache for a past 1 week
Justin Hall
July 3, 2013This is really interesting! I’ve always had issues with my jaw but never realized it may be related to the headaches I get when I wake up. Great article!
admin
July 3, 2013Justin, glad to be of help!
Mark
July 4, 2013I am really impressed after reading this article because it’s help me a lot which I can’t explain. Thanks.
admin
July 6, 2013You are welcome Mark. I am glad that my article on headaches has helped you alot.
kamrul islam
July 4, 2013For histamine hormone secretion from body. Histamine causes humans headache.
Sidra Sindu
July 7, 2013Thanks for informative information! Yesterday was full of headaches for me. Maybe if we don’t take sufficient diet it may cause headaches? After taking the diet I felt good and no headaches. It surely helped me, thanks!
Tania Islam
July 8, 2013Head ace is really bad thing for every person and most of the people are survive this problem. Sometimes it cross their limit and man feel severe pain. So i think this article help me to control this problem.
kamrul islam
July 13, 2013Thanks for kind information. it good for health.
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December 8, 2013[…] A lot of people wake up in the early morning with migraines and they just take a pain medicine and suffer with these migraines. If you wake up in the early mornings with persistent migraine and pain the shoulders and neck, after that you may be suffering from TMJ condition. […]
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December 11, 2013[…] Many people wake up in the early morning with headaches and they just take a pain medicine and suffer with these headaches. If you wake up in the early mornings with persistent headache and pain the shoulders and neck, after that you may be suffering from TMJ condition. […]
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