This study looked at individuals, males and females, who had been experiencing chronic jaw and/or face pain and the overall prevalence of depression and anxiety.
The study found that females with chronic jaw and/or face pain were more likely to be depressed, than their male counterparts.
Interestingly enough, the study found anxiety was not a significant issue for either males or females.
Jaw and/or face pain can be extremely life-limiting and create significant quality of life concerns for many individuals.
Our jaws are extremely complex, although they appear very simple in their function.
The area where our jaw is (in front of our ear), has a LOT going on, including - obviously your jaw's movements, your teeth in the surrounding area, your sinuses, your ears, you have several muscles in your mouth and along your cheek as well as your neck, and just to complicate things further ... the top few bones of your spine are in the same small space!
Why does all that anatomy stuff matter? Because "jaw pain" may not actually be from someone's jaw! It could be any one or any combination of those structures. Due to the complexity of the anatomy, it often takes a bit of extra time to truly find the cause and it's rarely just one singular cause.
Just to make things even more complicated ... think about how many specialities are involved in those areas - dentists, orthodontists, ear-nose-throat specialists, sleep specialists, chiropractors, neurologist, orthopedics ... it's hard to know where to start but if you are having pain in this area, trying a different specialist may be of great help for you!
Hunting down the cause of jaw pain is quite possibly the toughest part of managing it all.
Dr. Adams has done well with many patients who have had jaw pain with varying origins, including Trigeminal Neuralgia. The mental health impact of face and jaw pain is something we are acutely aware of, we take these cases seriously and do our absolute best to help individuals, even if it isn't in our office - no one deserves to suffer.
This is not medical advice, please see your PCP or medical provider before making any lifestyle, medication, supplement, dietary, etc changes
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