Colorado Springs, Colorado (NAPSI) - While many people turn to prescription drugs to try to control migraines once they start, there aren’t any that are terribly effective and none that will stop the migraines before they happen. There is, however, another option and it doesn’t involve taking medication.
The Problem
Almost 5 million people in the U.S. experience at least one migraine attack a month. More than 11 million people blame migraines for causing moderate to severe disability and 91 percent of them can’t function normally during migraine attack, according to the American Migraine Study, which also reveals that the average migraine sufferer misses two days of work per year.
It’s an expense both in terms of career—lost work—and medical costs. Migraine sufferers use 2.5 times the amount of prescription drugs and have six times as many diagnostic tests and services as nonsufferers. The average monthly health cost of a migraine sufferer is 60 percent higher than that of people who don’t suffer from migraines, according to the National Institutes of Health.
According to The Migraine Trust, migraine often occurs for the first time in teens and young adults but is most common in the 30-something age group.
Who Can Help
Specially trained neuromuscular dentists can perform a dental procedure that can help. They use special equipment to find the optimal resting position of the jaw and create an orthotic—which looks like an athlete’s mouth guard. When inserted into the mouth, it can change your bite. Many treated this way find their chronic migraines are prevented.
Why It Works
That’s because chronic moderate to severe headaches, including migraine, are a common indicator of malocclusion, or a bad bite, commonly called TMD or jaw joint disorder.
“That’s particularly true of headaches that are focused behind the eyes, near the temples, around the jaw and ears, or at the back of the head in the area of the neck and shoulders,” explains Mark Duncan, clinical director at LVI Global, where many of the dentists train.
Learn More
You can learn more and find a specially trained neuromuscular dentist near you at www.leadingdentists.com.
