A study that was conducted by Dr. Richard Ohrbach, Associate Professor at the University of Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine's Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences, has shown that Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction, also known as TMJ, is sometimes mistaken for tension headache symptoms.
The intent of the study was to show the differences between the joint pain associated with TMJ versus the pain experienced from daily tension headaches in a clinical setting. The study was not just focused on tension headaches and also examined sub-clinical headaches, migraines and mixed migraines.
All of the 583 study participants displayed the symptoms of TMJ. Women made up 82.3 percent of those participating in the study as they are two times more likely to show the symptoms of TMJ than men.
Dr. Ohrbach and the research team found that in 82 percent of the cases, tension headache symptoms could be reproduced when standard clinical examinations of the temporomandibular joint were conducted. The procedure of diagnosing the TMJ symptoms, as set by the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders, were compared to the tension headache diagnosis process.
The study concluded that patients and the physicians conducting the examinations could mistake a tension headache resulting from TMJ symptoms and/or jaw pain for a classic tension headache. Ohrbach noted that this is unfortunate because TMJ is treatable. Even though TMJ symptoms were present in all of the study participants, only 152 had a tension headache diagnosis, as based on the International Headache Society guidelines for tension headaches.
(Image Source: Web MD)
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