What to know about Lockjaw, TMJ and TMJD
Cody, this one is for you!
One of the worst experiences is waking up in the morning and realizing you can barely open your jaw without tremendous pain. If you are one of the lucky ones, you’re able to open your mouth just enough to eat breakfast, but not without some pain. At this point you’re probably thinking, “what the heck is happening? Do I go to the dentist? How do I fix this?”
This lovely condition is known as Tempomandibular Joint Disfunction. Try saying that ten times fast! Or you can just say TMJ or more accurately, TMJD. You may have also heard TMJD referred to as lock jaw. So why does this happen and what can we do to help rectify this issue?
There are a couple of reasons someone might wake up with TMJD. Let’s start with talking about the one that is most dangerous. The most serious reason someone could suffer from TMJD or lock jaw is a Bacterial Tetanus infection. As you probably know by now, Tetanus infections are nothing to scoff at. Tetanus is known to spread throughout the body causing nerve damage that results in muscle spasms. The facial muscle spasms result in the jaw locking shut. When this is the cause, a person will also suffer from difficulty swallowing, global muscle spasms, stiff neck, high blood pressure, nervous system dysfunction and a fever. When lockjaw is due to Tetanus you need to make sure you get to the emergency room right away.
Now that we have the worst-case scenario out of the way let’s zone in on the more common case I see. Typically, this is how the story goes; “I went into the dentist yesterday for a cleaning or dental surgery and woke up this morning barely being able to open my mouth. Why is this happening and what can I do about it?”
The common reason I see a jaw lock Is due to either an acutely injured Tempomandibular joint or an exacerbated segmental dysfunction of the upper cervical complex. That was a lot of big words so let’s break that down: The Tempomandibular joint (TMJ) is the spot where your mandible (Jaw) attaches to both sides of your skull. This joint allows the jaw to hinge open like a door, so you can open your mouth. When your jaw is opened beyond its normal range of motion and held in that position for an extended period it can result in an injury that is similar to a sprain. The good news is that your TMJ should make a full recovery. With these types of injuries typically the muscles that close the jaw will become hypertonic (tight) in order to help protect the joints. It is like a low back injury in that the muscles tighten up to help stabilize the area to allow for healing to occur. Unfortunately, this results in a jaw that is locked down in the closed position. In instances where this is the cause of TMJD I recommend finding someone well trained in performing soft tissue work on the muscles that are locking the jaw shut. After the muscles of the jaw have been addressed, I would recommend having someone look at your upper cervical complex.
This is the part where people say, “Why on earth would I have my neck looked at in regard to my lock jaw (TMJD)?” Well, the short answer is that the upper cervical complex is intimately tied to the joints of the jaw (TMJ). Don’t believe me? Try eating a large bite of food or cheeseburger and not tilting your head back while you attempt to fit that meal into your mouth. Or try to eat a meal without activating the muscles surrounding your upper cervical complex (occiput, C1, C2). You can’t do it. We are hardwired from birth to marry the motor programming (Muscle Memory) between our Jaw and upper cervical complex when it comes to feeding. This would also be why chiropractic has helped so many breast-feeding babies when it comes to latching issues, but that is a topic for another day.
Since these two areas are so intimately tied together it is hard to have an issue in the Upper Cervical region without it affecting the jaw and vice versa. So, if you start to experience jaw or upper neck issues it is a good idea to get both looked at, so you don’t wake up one morning unable to open your mouth.
