Think about the things that control your attention more than everything else. Sure, TikTok and Instagram are up there but what we’re talking about is pain. When you’re in pain, your nerve receptors are on fire with information coming in telling you either “get me away from that” or “you’re in danger, something is wrong.” As it turns out, the chronic dull pain (like jaw joint pain) that you try to ignore is often the most detrimental to your attention and ruining focus.
Why Does Pain Consume Our Focus?
Pain recognition takes a considerable amount of effort from the nervous system to identify and signal to the brain, and for good reason. The sensation you feel, while unpleasant, exists to protect and warn you. Without pain how would you ever know something is wrong?
So, when we’re in pain that needs to be the top priority on our minds. Pain needs to be the most important thing going on so that you can get help as soon as possible. This feedback system works well, and in the case of those dull, chronic pains like those in your jaw joint if you have temporomandibular joint disorder, too well. Those pain signals are less urgent (or we believe them to be) and make it harder to focus. Our brain’s processing power, planning, and execution functions get deprioritized and we end up scatter-brained.
TMJ Pain Is Especially Suited for Ruining Focus
TMJ pain or temporomandibular joint pain is often the nagging kind of pain that we put off. Small, seemingly insignificant [link id=’114′ text=’symptoms‘ esc_html=’false’] annoy us but rarely enough to do something about it. And that’s the problem. We ignore those kinds of pains and so they stick around without any kind of treatment and slowly our attention gets whittled away. What might that pain look or feel like?
- Clicking, popping, or grinding noises when opening and shutting the mouth
- Pain and swelling around the jaw joint
- Chipped teeth, cracked teeth, and worn teeth
- Difficulties opening the mouth
- Lockjaw
Symptoms like these can seem unimportant at first, like hearing a popping noise when you open or close your mouth or having a recurring “toothache.” The constant pain can create little distractions throughout the day like when you’re trying to finish a project at work or listen to how your kid’s day at school went. That pain just goes on living in your jaw joint in the background waiting for you to do something about it.
Solve Jaw Joint Pain
We know how easy it can be to put off seeing the doctor about things you think you can live with, we see patients like that all the time. But why should you put it off any longer when we can provide you with real treatment solutions that get to the root of the problem and don’t require you to take pain medication for the rest of your life. If your jaw is hurting you and you’re having trouble paying attention, maybe it’s time to schedule an appointment. Call our offices at 703-349-4277 and make an appointment with Dr. Marzban.
