Imagine waking up with your ears ringing and becoming painful upon moving your mouth. Yet, you’re not on a flight for this ear-tingling experience. While you close your mouth, the pain subsides. Ear pain, often common, can be an overlooked symptom of jaw pain.

While it mainly disrupts chewing or speaking, jaw pain may also affect your hearing. When it becomes severe, this further leads to ear-related discomfort. Learn how your jaw condition triggers earaches and explore chiropractic care as an effective relief. 

Understanding TMJ Disorder

Jaw joints, or temporomandibular joints (TMJs), attach your lower jaw (mandible) to the skull’s temporal bone. They act as sliding hinges, allowing smooth jaw movements. It coordinates how you comfortably eat, talk, yawn or express facial gestures.

How do TMJs function? Each mandible’s upper end (condyle) typically has an articular disc as a cushion. When the jaw moves, these protective discs move along the condyles. This allows a smooth jaw motion as the discs absorb most of the shock during movement.

When the joints’ articular discs misalign, this often causes jaw pain. Certain portions of these discs (retrodiscal tissue) contain delicate nerve endings. Excessive jaw movement further strains or stretches these, contributing to TMJ disorders. 

Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) is challenging to diagnose when it exists in other conditions. You might encounter no pain yet limited jaw motion, or vice-versa. Here are some of its symptoms:

  • Jaw Pain: Often results from strained or injured TMJ disc’s nerve endings, which can be painful and require urgent attention.
  • Difficulty chewing: Mouth movement can be limited, or worse, the jaw locks that often occur with minimal to severe discomfort.
  • Clicking or popping sound: When the TMJ disc as cushion wears off, it leaves the bones to collide, which may result in clicking, popping or crackling sounds.  
  • Uneven bite: TMD often results in an open bite, where your upper and lower teeth don’t touch when closing your mouth. 
  • Headache: Chewing pressure reaches the temporal muscles, triggering headaches.
  • Neck and shoulder pain – TMJ pain reaching your neck and shoulder areas.
  • Ear pain: Results when TMJ pain and inflammation reach the auditory canal, affecting hearing and balance.

How TMJ Disorders Cause Ear Pain

TMDs can cause ear pain primarily due to their anatomical proximity. TMJs are less than half an inch away from your ears. This explains why it’s possible to hear even the subtle popping or crackling sounds due to weakened TMJ discs. 

With this proximity, TMJ dysfunction easily radiates pain in the ear region. The ear parts affected by this are the eustachian tubes, which, connected to the throat, equalise and prevent fluid buildup in the ear. 

When severe, TMDs often render these tubes dysfunctional. This leads to discomfort, hearing difficulties, and fullness, an experience similar to an aeroplane’s pressure change. It also contributes to other symptoms like severe ear pain and ringing (tinnitus).

The ear canal and TMJ share a bony wall, so TMD is often associated with ear discomfort. This is because they share nerve endings, leading to referred pain. It’s when you feel pain in both the jaw and ears, originally due to TMD. 

Symptoms of TMJ-Related Ear Pain

Unless it’s caused by infection, there are clear symptoms that TMDs cause ear problems. Here are some indications of TMJ-related ear pain:

  • Earaches
  • Ear stuffiness or fullness
  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ear)
  • Dizziness (vertigo)
  • Hearing loss (severe case)

Along with TMD symptoms, seek professional help when experiencing persistent earaches. Other conditions may result in ear pain, so consult your doctor to rule out possibilities. Often, a qualified healthcare provider offers non-invasive treatment options.

Chiropractic Treatment for TMJ Pain

While traditional rehabilitative treatments exist to manage TMD, a chiropractic approach offers a noninvasive treatment option. By addressing misalignment issues in the jaw, chiropractors can alleviate pain, improve function, and reduce symptoms.

Here are common chiropractic techniques to manage your jaw and ear pain due to TMD:

  • Targeted Adjustment: This includes gentle adjustments, such as manual mandibular therapy, to mitigate further pain, improve mobility, and restore jaw function.
  • Spinal Manipulation: Often improves posture by balancing and correcting spinal positioning. This reduces soft tissue tightness, providing substantial relief and comfort.
  • Soft Tissue Therapy: Involves deep massage and fascial manipulation to stimulate healing and reduce overall jaw and ear pain.
  • Dry Needling: One of the most effective conservative management strategies significantly impacting jaw joint discs. It helps reduce pain in your jaw, ear, and affected areas.
  • Physical Therapy: Employed to strengthen muscles and improve range of motion, alleviating pain in the jaw, ear, neck, and head. 
  • Stress Management: Chiropractic specialists provide relaxation techniques to manage TMDs so you can reduce the impact of your symptoms. 

Consulting with a qualified chiropractor is key to a reliable TMJ treatment. You can search ‘TMJ chiropractor near me’ on the internet to find the closest service provider. It’s best to discuss your specific needs and options when opting for this treatment.

Book a Chiro Specialist for Your TMJ Needs

Due to the proximity of the TMJ to the ear canal, TMD can manifest as ear pain. These two share nerve endings and jaw pain is readily felt in the ears. Often, this is treatable with effective treatments like chiropractic care.

MVMT Sports Chiropractic offers specialised care for TMJ disorders. We help restore proper TMJ alignment to reduce inflammation, discomfort, and pain. 

Make an online booking to see one of our experienced chiropractors today!