Alternative jaw pain causes for Jenison, MI patients


lock jaw TMJ

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder is a common source of jaw pain for people everywhere, but it can be difficult to identify the source of your pain.

The Advent Physical Therapy team at our Jenison, Michigan location can help you find out exactly what’s causing the pain in your jaw. Indeed, we want you to know as much about your condition as possible. This desire to provide you with information is driven by our belief that you should be an equal and active partner in your recovery process.

Our team knows that there are some causes of jaw discomfort that are more common than others. For instance, we know that things like having misaligned teeth and excessive gum-chewing can cause you pain in this area. However, we want to be sure you’re aware of all the possible alternative causes of your jaw pain.

Other conditions that could be causing jaw pain patients

The most frequent cause of jaw pain we see in our Jenison, Michigan office is some form of TMJ disorder. Our team is well aware, though, that there are other things that can cause this type of pain. For instance, one medical condition that can cause pain in your jaw is trigeminal neuralgia.

Trigeminal neuralgia is a condition that involved the irritation of the trigeminal nerve, which runs from your brain to various parts of your face. One area of your face that it branches into is your jaw. Thus, problems with this nerve can cause you to experience pain in this area. The irritation that leads to your pain could be caused by many different things. However, the most common cause is a blood vessel or vein rubbing against the root of your trigeminal nerve.

TMJ disorders and trigeminal neuralgia are just two of the pain-causing alternatives. There are other conditions that can cause you to have pain in your jaw. Some of these conditions include things like:

  • Salivary gland disease
  • Swollen lymph nodes
  • Severe tooth infections and other dental problems
  • Acute earaches and other ear issues

Since there are various conditions that could be causing your pain, the Advent Physical Therapy team wants to help you pinpoint which one is causing yours. One way that we can help you do this is with a free, 15-minute screening, which will help us determine the cause of your pain and get you on the road to recovery. To schedule your free screening, contact the team at our 1915 Georgetown Center Drive, Suite 103 location in Jenison, Michigan today.