Doctor, Why Does My Face Still Ache?: Getting Relief from Persistent Jaw, Ear, Tooth, and Headache Pain

by Tanenbaum, Donald R.

• ISBN13: 9781884092961
• ISBN10: 1884092969
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-01
• Publisher: UNIV PRESS OF NEW ENGLAND

Summary

This groundbreaking book explains why tens of millions of Americans with persistent headaches, toothaches, jaw pain, and other debilitating facial pain can't find relief--even after seeing many doctors in search of a solution. The problem is that most physicians and dentists look for injury or disease to explain the pain but ignore the connection between emotions and muscles--which compose most of the face. While the intimate connection between mind and body has long been studied and applied to treat back, heart, skin, and gastrointestinal system pain, this is the first book to clearly explain how the mind can initiate changes in the body that result in persistent pain in the mouth, ears, jaw, forehead, and other facial areas. Detailed case studies clearly describe the relief from pain that patients finally feel, either through an understanding of the "brain-pain" connection alone or in combination with traditional pain-relieving medications and technologies. This book will not only benefit people who suffer from persistent facial pain, but also physicians and dentists insufficiently trained to recognize and diagnose facial pain problems or unable to explain to patients why stressful life challenges and emotions have fueled their suffering.

Author Biography

Donald R. Tanenbaum, DDS, MPH maintains a private practice in New York and holds university and hospital appointments. He is a Past President of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain and received a DDS and MPH degree from Columbia University. S. L. Roistacher, DDS, a founding member of the International Association for the Study of Pain and the American Pain Society, for over 30 years chaired the Departmental of Dental Medicine, Queens Hospital Center, New York, and the committee on chronic headache pain. He received the DDS degree from New York University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Defining the Face and Facial Pain	p. 6
The Symptoms and Patterns of Facial Pain	p. 9
Who Has Persistent Facial Pain?	p. 19
How Most Patients First Respond to Persistent Facial Pain-And Why They Usually Fail to Get Relief	p. 28
The True Cause of Most Persistent Facial Pain: Muscles and the "Brain Under Siege"	p. 35
Getting the Proper Diagnosis and Treatment for Persistent Facial Pain	p. 70
When Things are Not What They Seen to Be	p. 107
Epilogue	p. 117
References	p. 119
Directory of Helping Organizations	p. 122
Author Biographies	p. 123
Index	p. 125
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