What Could be Causing your Cluster Headaches

Categories: TMJ/TMD

what could be causing cluster headachesScotts Valley and Santa Cruz, CA

If you have never experienced cluster headaches, be thankful. Patients and their doctors agree that the pain from these headaches is brutal and debilitating, impeding the ability to function on a daily basis. Determining the cause of cluster headaches is key to finding relief and, if you have been suffering from this ailment for a prolonged period of time without relief, then your headaches actually might be caused by temporomandibular joint disorder.

Let’s take a deeper look at this disorder, also referred to as TMD, and how it can cause painful headaches.

What is TMD?

Temporomandibular joint disorder occurs when there is a dysfunction in the temporomandibular joint, which connects the jaw to the skull. This problem with the joint quickly can spread to the jaws themselves, as well as the surrounding musculature and nerves. One of the nerves located in close proximity to the temporomandibular joint is the trigeminal nerve, which carries more sensory information to the brain than any other neural pathway—even the spinal cord. The trigeminal nerve is often aggravated when a person suffers from any type of a tension headache, a classification that includes cluster headaches.

The pain of cluster headaches

People who suffer from cluster headaches experience them daily, or even multiple times per day. These attacks can occur over the span of a few weeks, or a few months. They often occur at the same time of the day or take place during a certain season such as spring or fall when allergies seem to exacerbate the issue. These headaches afflict approximately 1.4 million Americans, according to the American Headache Society.

Cluster headache treatments

There are several standard treatments for cluster headaches. Inhaling pure oxygen is a popular method, as is self-administered injections of drugs in the triptan family, such as Imitrex. However, if you have sought treatment for cluster headaches but have yet to find relief, then your headaches could, in fact, be the result of a case of TMJ disorder. If TMD is causing your headaches, then the only way to find relief is to have the TMJ disorder itself identified and treated.

A neuromuscular dentist in Scotts Valley, like the doctors on staff at Ebrahimian Integrative Dentistry, is the best-qualified medical professional to help relieve TMD. Drs. Max and Ariana Ebrahimian can use any one of a variety of different treatment methods to alleviate whatever is distressing the temporomandibular joint. Once the temporomandibular joint is no longer in a state of dysfunction, any subsequent problems—such as painful cluster headaches—also will go away.

Cluster Headache Relief in Scotts Valley

Cluster headaches or other varieties of tension headaches that occur regularly can cause enough pain to impede your ability to function on a daily basis. If you have been living with painful headaches for quite some time without relief, you should be screened to see if you are suffering from TMJ disorder. Let the neuromuscular dentists at Ebrahimian Integrative Dentistry help you; just call us at (831) 438-4411 to schedule a consultation.

Ebrahimian Integrative Dentistry serves patients located in the California communities of Los Gatos, Santa Cruz, and Scotts Valley.