Author: Danielle Greenman, MD

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BOTOX TO TREAT HEADACHES AND TMJ

Did you know that Botox can be an effective treatment for chronic pain conditions like TMJ, chronic migraines and tension headaches? 

What is TMJ?

Let’s first talk about TMJ.  When muscles in the jaw and face become tense due to stress, anxiety, or other factors, it can lead to symptoms such as jaw pain, difficulty chewing, clicking or popping noises in the jaw joint (TemporoMandibular Joint or TMJ), headaches, earaches, and even limited jaw movement. These symptoms are commonly associated with TMJ disorders.  Muscle pain from the TMJ can also be caused by a misaligned bite, or teeth clenching during the day or night.  In addition to understanding and addressing these root causes, helping alleviate the tight muscles is an important part of recovery.

Chronic headaches can be associated with TMJ issues, but are often unrelated and can be caused by tight and inflamed muscles in the neck and shoulders and forehead. Myofascial pain syndrome is a disorder in which pressure on sensitive points in the muscles causes pain and often happens after injury or muscle overuse.  It’s possible that tension in your neck, and the muscles around your skull (occiput and temporal muscles for example) are the underlying cause of your chronic headaches.  

Botox is an excellent way of breaking the cycle of pain.  While it’s important to get to the root cause of the underlying stress, anxiety, and tension and rule out other causes of headaches like Lyme or other tick infections, toxin overload, mold exposure, structural imbalances and more (all of which we also focus on at Blum Center for Health), sometimes you want to feel better right now.  Preventing muscle contraction with Botox is an evidence based approach to alleviating pain and one way to do this.   

Botox works by temporarily paralyzing or weakening the muscles that are in spasm and causing pain. In the case of headaches, it can be injected into specific muscles in the head and neck to release the tension, and prevent them from again contracting excessively.  This can alleviate tension and reduce the frequency and severity of your headaches.

The procedure, depending on the location of your symptoms, involves multiple injections around the head and neck and/or jaw.  Because there are multiple injections into areas of trigger points, a common initial side effect can be soreness, which usually resolves within a day or two. 

Clinical trials have shown that Botox injections can be an effective treatment reducing the number of headache days per month for many patients and alleviating jaw pain and grinding. Because botox takes up to 2-3 weeks to take effect, it may take up to a month to start seeing the effects. 

IS BOTOX FOR TMJ FOR ME?

If you suffer from any of these….

  • chronic headaches, or 
  • have chronic pain in your jaw or TMJ 
  • Have chronic muscular pain in your head and neck 

….and if you’ve seen many specialists and tried other options to no avail, then Botox might finally give you the relief you are searching for.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BOTOX AND TMJ?

While we don’t accept insurance, we will provide you with a form to submit to your insurance company.

Botox injections will give you temporary relief from your pain – which is important! If  you’re interested in discovering the root cause of your headaches and how Functional Medicine can help, schedule an appointment with our clinicians for an in-depth medical assessment.  914.652.7800

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How Ketamine is Helping Patients with Chronic Stress and Trauma

Ketamine Infusions at Blum Center for Health

In functional medicine, we see trauma as more than just emotional distress; it has a tangible impact on both your physical and mental health. Picture your body as a well-coordinated orchestra, each section representing a different system. Trauma throws off this balance, affecting everything from hormones to digestion. 

The stress response triggered by trauma can lead to inflammation, impacting your immune system and overall well-being. Our goal as practitioners is to address these interconnected factors, restore balance and support healing. 

The Biology of Trauma

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in understanding the biological mechanisms underlying trauma and exploring innovative treatments. Dr. Stephen Porges introduced the Polyvagal Theory, a groundbreaking framework for understanding the autonomic nervous system’s role in responding to stress and trauma. According to this theory, the autonomic nervous system consists of three branches: the ventral vagal, sympathetic, and dorsal vagal systems.

  • Ventral Vagal System: Associated with social engagement and relaxation, this branch promotes feelings of safety and connection.
  • Sympathetic Nervous System: Known for its “fight or flight” response, the sympathetic system activates during stressful situations, preparing the body for action.
  • Dorsal Vagal System: Linked to immobilization and shutdown, this branch activates when an individual perceives a life-threatening situation, leading to a state of dissociation or freeze.

Understanding the interplay between these systems provides insight into how trauma can impact an individual’s physiological responses and overall well-being.

Trauma’s Impact on the Nervous System: 

When an individual experiences trauma, the autonomic nervous system may become dysregulated. Chronic exposure to stressful or traumatic events can lead to a heightened sympathetic response and an impaired ventral vagal system, hindering the ability to regulate emotions and navigate social interactions effectively. 

Additionally, trauma may result in an overactive dorsal vagal system, contributing to symptoms such as dissociation, anxiety, and depression. 

Understanding these neurobiological changes is crucial for developing effective interventions. Here’s several examples of patients* who’ve who’ve come to me for treatment:

  • The middle-aged patient with depression, who finally connects his dissociation and inability to focus, constipation, and recurrent sinus infections to the stress of his childhood-being raised by an alcoholic mother.
  • The 21 year old college student  who has diarrhea, difficulty tolerating foods, eczema and painful periods- who also lives in a state of fight or flight that she experiences as ADHD and anxiety.
  • The perimenopausal small business owner who is starting to have night sweats, weight gain, change in her bowels.
  • The sleep deprived mom of 3- shuffling kids from activity to activity, managing a household, cooking, who has difficulty finding time to exercise, meal prep, and meditate and who experiences chronic HIVES and cannot clear toxins like mold from her system.
  • The retired patient who has long haul covid after years of reflux symptoms, a short fuse and anger management issues, recurrent sinus infections, and a history of insomnia.  

Ketamine and Trauma Treatment

Ketamine, traditionally known as an anesthetic, has garnered attention for its potential therapeutic effects on trauma-related conditions. 

Recent research suggests that ketamine may influence the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor,  a receptor in the brain leading to neuroplasticity and the formation of new neural connections.  

What this means is that the brain is literally rewiring itself, allowing faulty connections (synapses) to reconnect stronger and with more integrity. And what we experience physically is less anxiety and depression and the somatic manifestations of those states of being. 

Moreover, ketamine’s impact on glutamate transmission may play a role in dampening hyperactive neural circuits associated with trauma. 

Studies exploring the use of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy indicate promising results in alleviating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.  

I’m brought to my 20-something  patient who came to me, unable to work, in chronic pain, almost bed bound and with suicidal ideations.  After only 2-3 months of treatment, he is starting graduate school, his pain well integrated and understood, and walking with a new found confidence in himself.   Both having rewired the neural-circuits and integrated his experiences during his sessions into his daily life and conscious awareness.  

Ketamine, with its potential to modulate neural circuits and promote neuroplasticity, emerges as a novel avenue for trauma treatment. As research in this field continues, integrating biological insights with innovative therapeutic approaches holds promise for advancing chronic stress and trauma care and improving the lives of individuals affected by trauma.

As a practitioner, having a cutting edge tool like ketamine has been one of the most profound ways I have helped patients heal their physical body. If you’d like more information about Ketamine treatments at Blum Center for Health contact our team at 914.652.7800 or on our website www.blumcenterforhealth.com 

*distinguishing characteristics have been removed to protect patient identity.