Jaw and Headaches

Reading the jaw and the headache

Consent: intraoral and cranial contact need specific consent. Name the area and reason, glove for intraoral, offer the option to decline, and agree on a stop signal.

Scope boundary: observe jaw tracking and screen cranial nerve signs. Do not diagnose TMD subtypes or claim cranial bone repositioning.

Stop rule: stop on sharp pain, worsening locking, dizziness, visual change, facial numbness, or any withdrawal of consent.

Referral rule: refer for new severe or changing headache, facial droop, speech or swallow change, or progressive neurological signs.

Documentation note: record consent for intraoral or cranial contact, baseline, input, retest and any adverse response. Do not record alignment claims.

Jaw and headache presentations reward careful sorting and a cranial nerve screen before any heavy work. You will use temporalis, masseter and upper cervical work, and intraoral work only when the assessment justifies it, always with retesting.

Watch jaw tracking and test it, rather than naming the jaw as misaligned. Cranial contact tests whether subtle input changes pain or range. It is not a claim about moving bone. Take a jaw opening baseline, apply one chosen input, and record what changed without forcing a mechanism.