Research clearly shows that 90% of facial pain is due to muscle. The work of Dr. Janet Travell, M.D., has singularly defined the nature of and cause of pain and has led to real treatment solutions, rather than relying on medication. Travel has shown that when muscle is contracted, or shortened, due to lack of heathy, physiologic jaw or tooth position, pain increases. This can also lead to secondary symptoms, when pain is referred to result in ear pain or congestion, tinnitus (ringing in ear), neck and head pain, dizziness, and jaw issues.
The muscles around your face and head all work together in a complex muscular coordination to help you balance your mandible (lower jaw), your head, and your posture. Any disruption or interference of this delicate system, and you get pain, either temporary or, more often, chronic and frequently misdiagnosed.
Your teeth and your jaw position have a huge influence on how your facial muscles function, how well they recover, and whether or not you live in chronic pain. If your teeth or jaw are not in their physiologic position, then every time you swallow (and you do so about 3000 times per day), every time you chew, grind, clench, and put your teeth together, this results in muscle activity that can become pathologic. Even a slight disruption to that delicate balance between all those muscles, and constant muscle over-activity will lead to pain, imbalance, poor posture, which all create a domino effect of further repeated pain, resulting in chronic conditions that often go misdiagnosed and mistreated.
Understanding muscle position, how to lower muscle activity, and how to support this complex mechanism long-term can lead to a proper diagnosis and treatment, resulting in elimination of pain and a healthy body overall.