Children and teenagers have a habit of chewing gum, and a study explains why it could cause migraines
Children and teenagers are used to chewing gum, the only food that is not eaten and has no nutritional value. More commonly known as bubble gum, it has abundant amounts of added sugars, flavorings, and aromas and is high in calories, making it not at all healthy.
There are certain myths surrounding chewing gum, one of the most popular being that if you accidentally swallow it, it stays in your stomach. But now a study has found an unexpected link between the frequent habit of chewing gum among young people and the manifestation of recurrent headaches.
Proven: Chewing gum can cause headaches
We wonder: Does chewing gum affect headaches? Or is it just an excuse for parents to get their children to stop chewing gum?
Well no, after many studies the Meir Medical Center, associated with Tel Aviv University, has confirmed the link between chewing gum and headaches in young people.
Dr. Watemburg had encountered scores of teenage patients who suffered from migraines, and coincidentally, most of them had the same characteristic: chewing gum .
“I wanted to conduct the study because doctors often prescribe unnecessary medications and treatments to teenagers when the easiest thing to do would be to first see if their migraines are related to this habit, ” the doctor said.
So, a test was proposed to confirm whether the relationship between the two things was possible. The test studied 30 teenagers, mostly girls, who were not allowed to chew gum for 30 days.
As a result, 26 of them stopped having migraines, confirming that their pattern was correct.
Relationship between chewing gum and headaches
“The relationship between excessive chewing and headaches is not new, but this study has shown that chewing gum does have a direct relationship in many cases with migraines in adolescents , something that had not been studied to date ,” said Wtemberg.
Although we may wonder, why does this happen? Why does it affect teenagers more? Well , it’s simple, at younger ages our facial muscles aren’t yet fully formed .
This means that when chewing gum , we are putting moe pressure on the jaw , so if it isnot fully developed, the person suffers tice as much headache .
In short, when we chew gum , the jaw moves more than ormal, and this can lead to nflammation of the temporomandibular joint . As a consequence, it can affect more areas, such as te neck.
