Recently, there has been a paradigm shift in the scientific understanding of the etiology and treatment of migraine headaches.  While migraines differ from tension headaches in intensity and in related symptoms, they may be triggered by clenching the teeth, just like tension headaches.  The evidence for this is as follows:

                - Jaw clenching muscles in migraine sufferers usually are 70% larger in volume than in people without migraine.

                -Jaw clenching muscles in those who suffer from migraines can generate much higher biting forces than the jaw muscles in those without migraines.

                -Migraine suffers who experience their headaches upon waking show evidence of grinding teeth at night during sleep (bruxism).

                -Both migraine suffers and those who experience tension headaches show tenderness to palpation (pressing and kneading with the fingers) in the muscles of mastication (the muscles in the face responsible for closing and grinding of the teeth) during and following their headaches while those without migraines do not.

The difference between tension headaches and migraines is as follows:

                -Migraine sufferers experience so much pain and dizziness that they are often incapacitated and need to lie down, while tension headache sufferers can often control their pain with analgesics and continue to operate during their attacks.

                -Migraine sufferers exhibit one or more of the following symptoms during an attack:

                                -Nausea due to dizziness
                                -Sensitivity to light
                                -Sensitivity to sound

Therefore, an apparent relationship between bruxing and clenching the teeth, and the migraine headache exits. The standard of care in the treatment of migraine headaches now includes some of the modalities used to treat TMJ/TMD, especially the use of orthotics.