If you experience ongoing pain near your ear, in your jaw, or in the muscles on the side of your face – sometimes with clicking, popping, or restricted jaw movement – you may be dealing with a temporomandibular disorder (TMD). People often use the term “TMJ” to describe these problems, but TMJ is actually the…
Ongoing pain near your ear, along the jaw, or in the muscles on the side of your face, sometimes with clicking, popping, or limited jaw movement, can be a sign of a temporomandibular disorder (TMD). People often call this TMJ, but TMJ is simply the name of the jaw joint itself. Everyone has a TMJ;…
Digestive health and brain health are deeply connected, and problems in one system can influence the other. Most people recognize that the central nervous system – the brain and spinal cord – controls every major organ, tissue and cell in the body, which is part of why protecting the spine matters. What is less obvious…
Waking up with a stiff neck – or acute torticollis – is one of the worst ways to start the day. The word torticollis comes from two Latin roots: torti (twisted) and collis (neck). It’s the condition often called a “cricked neck” or “wry neck,” and almost everyone has experienced waking up unable to turn…
Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, but it is also the body’s way of warning you that something isn’t right. No one enjoys pain – especially back or neck pain – yet there is value in the fact that the body has a way of signaling that something is wrong. Experiencing pain is…
A concussion, a form of traumatic brain injury (TBI), is caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head or body that makes the brain move rapidly inside the skull, disrupting how it normally functions. Concussions are common: the CDC has estimated that hundreds of thousands of young people are treated in emergency rooms…
The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in the body. It runs down the back of the lower leg and connects the calf muscles to the heel bone, raising the heel off the ground every time you walk, run, or jump. Because it carries such high loads, it is also one of the…
The AC joint, short for acromioclavicular joint, sits at the top of the shoulder where the collarbone meets a part of the shoulder blade called the acromion. It is held together by a capsule and several ligaments, and it helps position the shoulder and control its motion and strength. When those ligaments are sprained or…
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the most important and most common risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and premature death. It often has no symptoms, which is why it is sometimes called the silent killer, and a large share of adults will develop it by later life. The good news is that…
Tight hamstrings are one of the most common complaints we see, and they often show up alongside back pain and stiffness. The hamstrings are a group of three muscles running down the back of the thigh that bend the knee and help pull the leg back as you walk, run, and climb stairs. When they…
