Jaw Joint Pain Often Not the Only Problem
January 20, 2010
By Nancy Volkers
InteliHealth News Service
INTELIHEALTH - Jaw-joint pain interferes with people's lives and causes mental distress, says a study. People with jaw-joint problems also may have other medical problems that complicate their condition.
Researchers from the University of Kentucky studied 1,060 adults. About 85% of them were women. All had long-term pain in their jaw joints. This is also known as the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ. The average adult in the study was just under 40 years old and had been feeling TMJ pain for more than 4 years.
To measure psychological distress, researchers used a survey. It asked about many kinds of symptoms. Then it asked how much each symptom bothered the person or made him or her feel out of control of life.
On average, people in the study had 3 or 4 medical problems. The most common medical problems among the TMJ study subjects were:
- Neurological problems, such as headaches, other pain or hearing problems (60% of adults in the study)
- Lung problems (41%)
- Digestive problems (38%)
- Mood or anxiety disorder (36%)
- Heart problems (31%)
- Muscles or bone problems (21%)
People with more medical problems were more likely to say that their TMJ pain interfered with everyday life.
People with neurological, muscle/bone and digestive conditions were most likely to have psychological distress.
The researchers noted that TMJ pain was complicated. They said that other issues besides medical conditions may be contributing to the problem. For example, some people with TMJ may not be getting enough sleep or exercise. They suggest a whole-body approach to TMJ problems. This approach involves a dentist, physician and behavioral health professional.
The study appears in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association.
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