Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) and Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMD) can have a significant impact on your quality of life because they affect your sleep and your daytime activities. 

Many people suffering from frequent and recurring headaches might not even be aware of the cause and attribute them to poor sleeping positions, their bed or their bedding. 

However, the constant waking caused by sleep apnoea, or teeth grinding and jaw clenching that comes with TMD could well be the cause of your headaches. 

What is TMJ Disorder?

A temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is pain and decreased movement of the jaw joint (the temporomandibular joint) and surrounding muscles. 

Symptoms can be mild, with no pain at all, to more severe with pain and a reduced ability or desire, to move the jaw, which can affect speech and eating. 

It’s not a serious condition in itself, but it can lead to a diminished quality of life and other health issues if not treated. 

Health Problems Caused by TMJ Disorder

Constant teeth grinding during the night can affect your sleep and you could lead to a serious headache before the day has even begun. 

Symptoms of TMD and migraine headaches often go together and each is exacerbated by the other until it’s no longer possible to tell which condition is the cause. 

Women are much more likely to suffer from TMD pain and headaches due to hormones and genetics. 

A custom mouthguard can help to alleviate the symptoms and pain of night time teeth grinding and jaw clenching. 

What is Sleep Apnoea?

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) (most often just referred to as Sleep Apnoea) is a disorder where the sides of the throat come together as you breathe while asleep. This causes you to stop breathing, making you wake up, and since it happens many times in a night, it can seriously affect your sleep quality. 

A lack of good restorative sleep increases your risk of accidents and other health problems and can make you moody and irritable. 

Health Issues Arising from Sleep Apnoea

People suffering from sleep apnoea, especially if they sleep alone, may not even realise they have the disorder but they’ll often wake up with a headache, feeling very tired. 

These headaches can be caused by low oxygen and high carbon dioxide levels in the blood when breathing is constantly being obstructed, or they can be caused by the repeated waking and going back to sleep, sometimes as often as 30 times in an hour. 

If you have frequent and recurring headaches, it’s important to seek professional advice and treatment. 

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