The Source / A field guide to feeling better
Head & Jaw
A headache, a spinning sensation and an aching jaw can share a neighborhood without sharing a cause.
Can you point to it?
Select a label to explore its side of the body
Choose the closest area.
Pick a point on the close-up, or choose from the list below. Each one covers what might be going on, the details that help at a visit, and the research behind it.
Put the symptoms in context
The pattern tells us a lot: when it started, how long it lasts, what brings it on, and any change in your vision, balance or chewing.
Follow the question
Explore head & jaw
Each guide explains what the condition is, what the research shows and where it runs out, and when it calls for a different kind of care than ours. An exam is how we look for which one, if any, fits you.
- Condition guide
Headaches & migraines
The common headache patterns, what we look for at an exam, and the symptoms that need urgent care.
Understand this condition - Condition guide
Jaw pain & TMD
Jaw muscles, joint discomfort, and where movement, a dental exam and managing it yourself each fit in.
Understand this condition - Condition guide
Vertigo
Why the room can spin for several different reasons, and why the diagnosis comes before any treatment on the neck.
Understand this condition
Headache, jaw pain or vertigo: where to start?
Start with what bothers you most. If it hurts to chew, begin with jaw pain and TMD (often called TMJ). If the room spins, read vertigo before blaming your neck. The headaches and migraines guide sorts neck-related headaches from other kinds and lists the warning signs that need urgent care.
A jaw has its own history: recent dental work, an injury, and if it has ever caught or locked. Whatever brought you in, we'll want to hear what it's kept you from doing.
Which research fits which head and jaw problem?
The TMD review below is about persistent jaw pain. It doesn't back a treatment for migraine or unexplained dizziness. Each condition guide has research matched to its own question. A dentist, a medical doctor and a chiropractor each look at something different, and some people need more than one.
Follow the evidence
Research, with context.
Selected published sources behind what we've written, each with what it found and what it can't tell us. We give you both halves because no paper can diagnose you or predict how your own care will go.
Management of chronic pain secondary to temporomandibular disorders: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials
153 trials involving 8,713 participants contributed to the network analyses of chronic TMD pain.
What it foundAmong comparisons with more certain evidence, approaches supporting movement and coping improved pain. These included selected supervised exercises, mobilization and psychological approaches.
What it can't tell usCertainty varied by treatment and outcome, and evidence about adverse events was low or very low certainty. It isn't evidence for treating every headache or an acute jaw injury.
Publication details & citation
Yao et al. Management of chronic pain secondary to temporomandibular disorders: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. BMJ. 2023. DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2023-076226.
Read the publication record
Our editorial policy explains how to read these sources and what our clinical-review labels mean.