ENT: Why an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor (ENT) After a Car Accident?

ENT: Why an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor (ENT) After a Car Accident?

Read­ing Time: 2 min­utes

What does a Ear, Nose, Throat Doc­tor Do After a Car Accident?
Why get­ting med­ical atten­tion right after after a car acci­dent is so import?

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TMJ Treatment Video

TMJ Treatment

TMJ is short for “tem­poro­mandibu­lar joints.”  When a car is struck from behind the per­son­’s head is “whipped” back­ward, and depend­ing on the force of the col­li­sion it’s pos­si­ble for the mus­cles in their low­er jaw to expe­ri­ence a large amount of pres­sure. When this hap­pens the jaw is pulled open and places addi­tion­al pres­sure on the sides of the skull where their jaw is attached to the upper head area. Essen­tial­ly the head and jaw are expe­ri­enc­ing oppo­site forces and TMJ injury can then be the result of the severe whip­ping motion. In the typ­i­cal “whiplash” injury, a vic­tim’s head, sit­ting free above the seat, is whipped toward the point where the car is struck. For exam­ple, in a rear-end col­li­sion, the car is pushed for­ward, and the vic­tim’s head is whipped back­ward. Accord­ing to May Clin­ic, an auto acci­dent vic­tim who suf­fers a TMJ injury may expe­ri­ence any of the fol­low­ing symptoms:

  • Pain or ten­der­ness in the jaw
  • Aching pain in and around one’s ear
  • Dif­fi­cul­ty or pain with chewing
  • Facial pain
  • The TMJ locks, mak­ing it dif­fi­cult to open or close one’s mouth
  • Lim­i­ta­tion of movement
  • Click­ing (when asso­ci­at­ed with pain or lim­it­ed movement)
  • An uneven bite

Who is an ENT Doctor?

Oto­laryn­gol­o­gists are com­mon­ly referred to as ENT physi­cians. Oto­laryn­gol­o­gy (pro­nounced oh/toe/lair/in/goll/oh/jee) is one of the old­est med­ical spe­cial­ty in the Unit­ed States. Oto­laryn­gol­o­gists are physi­cians trained in the med­ical and sur­gi­cal man­age­ment and treat­ment of patients with dis­eases and dis­or­ders of the ear, nose, throat (ENT), and relat­ed struc­tures of the head and neck.

Who is an ENT Doctor Video?

Dr. Jeff Nel­son talk­ing about what an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doc­tor does and some com­mon ill­ness­es treat­ed by ENTs.

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