Shoulder and Neck Pain

Shoulder and Neck Pain

Of course there are many causes for shoulder and neck pain, injuries, arthritis, skeletal pathology, herniation and many other problems. One etiology or cause that is frequently overlooked is the impact of clenching or grinding of the teeth. Many people would not associate this problem of clenching and grinding with shoulder and neck pain, however; what's missing here is the realization that the body is connected when the muscles in the jaw contract strongly enough to create a balancing reflex, balancing on the opposite side of the shoulders and neck.

Sometimes people say, well I was just under a lot of stress and the stress caused my shoulder and neck to be hurting me. As both a doctor who has treated many people with this problem and also a patient myself, I know clenching and grinding is a huge causative factor here. Many people wake up in the morning with shoulder and neck pain, typically they say ‘oh I slept wrong’, or ‘maybe I need a better pillow’. I have had patients tell me they've gone through 15 different pillows, and still have morning shoulder and neck pain. The same patients have had relief after using an appliance for clenching and grinding, that is effective.

During my many decades of treating people with this problem, the most effective solution I have seen is a product called GrindReliefN. Unlike virtually every other product, this actually has a mechanism of action to release and stop the intense muscle activity. Smaller and more wearable than Horseshoe devices it has a central bar which concentrates forces at the upper and lower mid-line, this creates a nerve stimulus which stops the muscle activity, or reduces at 70% more.

It's easy to duplicate this action by taking a pencil, putting it between your back teeth, biting down on it then taking the same pencil, putting it between your front teeth at the mid-line and biting down on it; you simply will not be able to apply the same amount of force. 

This pain may be experienced at any time of the day, or particularly while under an intense amount of stress, personally I carry my device with me throughout the day when I’m under intense stress, while driving, or at any stressful times, I may pop it into my mouth for a short period of time, it only takes a few minutes to break up the muscle activity. It’s small enough that it is unnoticeable, and you’re able to talk while using it. I got tired of taking medicine for the pain, and found GrindReliefN to be a huge help in solving these problems.

More information can be found at GrindReliefN.com, and there is also a link to a Fox 2 News feature that explains more graphically on how and why it works.

Upper Back Pain

Upper Back Pain

Upper back pain has many causes that may vary from vertebral misalignment, or damage bulging, damaged discs, arthritis sports injuries, work related injuries etc., however; one cause often overlooked is the impact of clenching and grinding of the teeth. This makes no sense to most people, after all; the jaw muscles are in one side of the body, and below on the opposite side of the body are the shoulder and neck muscles, and upper back muscles.

First we have to understand that the body has a lot of musculature and connective tissue throughout, and how can one side relate to the other? And how can they be connected? This became eminently clear to me a number of years ago when I tore some cartilage in my rib cage called Intercostal Chondritis. It was extremely painful and I felt like I was having a heart attack as it was right above my heart. The pain was intense, but by the end of the day the pain had migrated from just over my heart to the same spot in my back, 180° on the backside. What happened was a response to the intense pain on one side, was a contraction on the other. I called it a musculoskeletal balancing reflex. The same thing happened in reverse when I damaged some connective tissue in my Mid-back vertebra and the next day, my abdomen spasmed so hard that it ruptured a muscle in my abdomen.

…Now returning to clenching, grinding, and upper back pain. When the jaw muscles contract with significant force, there is a skeletal balancing, and the shoulders and neck can also tighten. I have suffered from and experienced clenching and grinding myself. Typically I would have problems with my jaw, shoulder, neck, or headaches, and I wore a device that became extremely worn, the smaller and more worn it got, the more problems I had with pain that eventually went into my upper back, so much so that I had my wife rub her elbow between my shoulder blade, to try to work out the muscle contraction. I knew my device was worn and I needed a new one. Once I received a new constructed device, I woke up the next morning, amazed and remarking about my lack of pain.

I have been a practicing dentist for over 40 years, but I'm also a patient, as I too suffer from these problems. My passion in this area as both a dentist and a patient has encouraged me to create a device that I believe is the best device to treat these problems.

Most appliances to treat these maladies, poster pads, horseshoes, or various forms of plastic between the teeth have no ability to treat the problem at the source. The product I created GrindReliefN is smaller, easier to wear and has a central bar which concentrates bite forces at the upper and lower mid-line. This creates a nerve stimulus to re-program the muscles and reduce muscle activity by 70% or more. This device has been by far the most wearable and effective in treating these problems than I have ever seen.

An easy test can demonstrate how and why this works. Take a simple pencil, put it between your back teeth, then take the same pencil put it between your upper and lower front teeth, and at the mid-line, you can bite right through the pencil with your back teeth but you are not able to exert nearly as much pressure with the front teeth. Problems with clenching and grinding are getting to be epidemic in the stressful world we live in. I Believe GrindReliefN provides the most effective and affordable treatment for these problems.

More information can be found at GrindReliefN.com, and a link to a Fox 2 news short video gives much more information.

Headaches at Night or in the Morning

 There are many causative factors for headaches. They can range from aneurysms to sinus problems, to allergies and also abnormal growths. However; when headaches occur in the middle of the night or in the morning it is definitive that this is resulting from clenching and grinding.

When the muscles of the neck contract, it triggers a skeletal balancing, that causes the muscles in the neck and shoulder to contract. This contraction also spreads out into the base of the skull and in the muscles, causing headaches. The common treatment for this malady is medication; another way to treat this problem is with the proper device to help stop the clenching and grinding.

GrindReliefN is the best device I have seen to treat this problem in my over 40 years of practice, unlike virtually any other device for clenching and grinding, this device actually stops the muscle contraction by 60% or more.

Smaller and easier to wear, it also has a central power bar which focuses bite forces on the upper and lower front Mid-line. This creates a nerve stimulus to stop the muscle activity.

You can put a Band-Aid on the problem with medication, or you can fix it with GrindReliefN.

Generalized Tooth Sensitivity

In Dentistry; generalized tooth sensitivity is something we are seeing more and more of. When a patient comes into our office and complains that all their teeth are sensitive, my whole staff knows that the problem is probably related to clenching and grinding the teeth. After a thorough examination, we determine that there is no decay, or faulty restorations that are causing the problem, the natural progression is that it is caused from clenching or grinding.

We are seeing more and more of this as tension and stress levels rise. There is a large product line designed to treat this problem, desensitizing toothpastes like Sensodyne, etc. As the teeth come together under intense pressure, gum line recession can occur, as well as notching and chipping. Frequently teeth that have no decay and no filling - also called virgin teeth we still have sensitivity. Again; the root cause is clenching and grinding the teeth. GrindReliefN is the best product I've seen in my 40 years of dental practice to help treat these problems.

It is smaller and easier to wear than horseshoe devices, or posterior your pad devices that are currently available. Not only are these other devices harder to wear, they are less effective and actually increase the muscle activity. GrandReliefN has a central bar which focuses forces of the upper and lower front teeth, and create a nerve stimulus to reduce the muscle activity 60% or more.

A simple pencil test can illustrate exactly how the device works. Take a pencil and put it between your back teeth and bite down on it, take the same pencil and put it between your upper and lower front teeth, you will find you cannot come close to applying the same force. In my experience, I believe that GrindReliefN is as good, or better than devices you would pay $500 to $700 or more for.