Rich Hirschinger, DDS, Inc

Thanks to Dr Hirschinger, my migraines are gone.
He is an excellent doctor, who really takes his time trying to help you. He has wonderful energy and really cares about his patients.
The nightguard that he made, literally is the best I’ve ever had.
I would absolutely recommend him.
Dr Hirschinger and his assistant Wendy are awesome!!!

After getting two of my wisdom teeth removed, I started to experience incredible amounts of shooting pain in right jaw, neck, and head. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced and no amount of pain medication would offer relief. I saw two oral surgeons who both diagnosed me with trigeminal neuralgia, which is a potentially lifelong condition of intense crippling pain. I would describe my pain as a constant migraine and shattered, broken jaw. For weeks, I couldn’t open my mouth, couldn’t work, couldn’t sleep, was bed ridden, could only eat smoothies and soup, and thought my life as I knew it was over… I’m a healthy 29 year old male and was terrified.
I was referred to orofacial pain specialists at USC and UCLA, and was shocked and disappointed that it would take months to get an appointment. Also, these doctors were charging up to $ 400 for a consult. So I went to google, and thank god I found Dr. Hirschinger. His website was informative, he seemed personable, and after speaking to Wendy, his super nice secretary, I had an appointment within two days!!! The other doctors only allowed for a 1 hour appointment, but Wendy explained that Dr Hirschinger would need to give me a full two hour examination. I also filled out a detailed questionnaire about my history and condition.
When I met Dr Hirschinger, he had already gone over my information and clearly knew my background without jumping to conclusions about my diagnosis. His examination nearly ruled out trigeminal neuralgia entirely, although he insisted that only time would tell. It was obvious his approach to my diagnosis was unbiased and purely scientific.
The oral surgeons had mistakenly put me on gabapentin, and Dr Hirschinger stopped the treatment immediately. He treated me for myalgia, basically chronically tightened muscles, and I saw IMMEDIATE improvement in my condition. Muscle relaxers, steroids, and simple mouth stretches with a wine bottle cork really did the trick. Within two days I doubled the amount I could open my mouth, I could sleep, and started to get my life back!!!
Fast forward to a month after seeing Dr Hirschinger: I was back to full time work, no pain at all, and could eat normal food without any issues. His diagnosis and treatment were exactly what I needed. His professionalism couldn’t have been better. He made me feel at ease and hopeful, and I am so thankful for his help. He has my full endorsement as a truly great orofacial pain specialist; he is talented and dedicated.

I am a dental professional, so I choose my specialists wisely. I went to Dr Hirschinger for treatment of my severe neck muscle aches and pain. He gave me trigger point injections in my neck. His technique was painless, quick, and immediately alleviated my sore, stiff muscles that I had been suffering with for months. The best part is, the pain has subsided now for several weeks and I have been able to regain the mobility and full range of motion of my head, allowing me to work comfortably again. It is a beautiful thing to wake up pain free and turn your head without hesitation! Dr Hirschinger is a hero in my eyes!

I have ridden with Dr. Rich many times on the bike never knew he was a Orofacial pain and headache doctor. I was involved in a bike vs. Auto accident and have had chronic neck pain and jaw and facial pain aswell as intense headaches.
The headaches can be so bad I just hide in dark rooms because nothing helps make them go away. I truly believed there was absolutely no way that they would ever go away so I just suffered through. My friend Dr. Hirschinger sent me a message one day asking me if I would consider giving him the chance to help by filling out one of his patient forms where I wrote everything that happens down headache wise. He said if he felt he could help he would. I spent a day filling that form out getting every piece of info I could remember in. I thought where I was feeling headaches and how they were acting was all in my head and that he was going to tell me like each other doctor I have seen that its all in my head stop faking and get on with it.
Went in to see doctor Hirschinger and I have my SD (Service Dog) with me he is extremely dog friendly but since I have a SD there always allowed but he loves seeing my girls Lucy and Shelby and giving them tons of love when they come on which is a huge relief some doctors get very nasty about the dogs but the doc is great with the furry critters. Anyways I go in and we spoke for a time about how the headaches act and where they hit and everything. He shows me a few graphs on the screen in front of the treatment chair. Where he says see this is where you are telling me your headaches are located and your pain is located hits a button another screen shows up and it shows well your headache is here and all the pain should be here and thats what your telling me so it isnt in your head you arent faking. Like OMG huge relief I aint crazy on that level thanks doc haha. He then hands me a piece of cork to stretch my jaw which I think started off on his scale at like 30 maybe and I could barely fit a chicken nugget in with forcing myself and causing major pain. Now I am at a 56 which I can easily fit a nice juicy piece of steak in with mild pain.
Kept going in overtime and at first I was a critic he said he could get rid of my headaches and I was like no its chronic theres no way. You cant do anything. He replied with a calm well just give me a chance lets see what we can do. So I skeptically gave doctor Hirschinger a shot at getting me some much needed help. He puts me on a medication for the headaches and says lets make a appt at this date and make sure your on the med for atleast 6 weeks. Low and behold I am at home taking the med I didnt notice nor have a headache for a while. As a skeptic I am like nah I must not have noticed we went longer than a month on the med with no appt. I had one mild 10 minute headache but beyond that not a single one of the underlying one or two pound headaches that had been crippling me. I was shocked and in amazement. I was like the doc is going to love hearing this no headaches he did it. I go in and told him that and he was very happy about it as was I not having a headache they were painful and annoying as hell.
Oh and as for scheduling its so easy and he has a system that has the appt time and date txts to your phone I think a week before a appt and the day of in the morning so cool and easy to help you remember I have major memory issues with this so having that system is amazing. Overall if your having headaches or Orofacial pain please please go to see Dr. Hirschinger if he can help he will. Thanks there Rich appreciating the relief each and every single day.

I was referred to Dr. Hirschinger because I had symptoms of TMJ. Dr. Hirschinger spent enough time with me to fully understand my symptoms and my rather complex history. His recommendations and follow up involved non-​invasive and painless solutions to my symptoms.
It is now only a few months later and I am pain free and symptom free.
I strongly encourage you to see Dr, Hirschinger for your head, neck and jaw issues. I also encourage you to follow through with his initial non-​invasive recommendations and you may be able to avoid further, more complex treatment.
I wish all of my medical professionals were this thorough and had reasonable solutions to my other medical issues.
Excellent doctor.

I was referred to Dr. Hirschinger from another Dr. for treatment of TMJ. I had previously had an arthroscopy which unfortunately had caused me to have limited opening following the surgery. Of the many doctors I had seen, Dr. Hirschinger spent the most time with me explaining my condition and helping me understand my treatment options. He went above and beyond in following up with me after I saw him, to see how I was doing. Dr. Hirschinger is a true advocate for his patients and I would certainly suggest him to anyone suffering from TMJ.

When you are having the worst migraine of your life, and you are not sure if you should go to the hospital (that hasn’t helped!) or shoot yourself in the head, have Dr. Hirschinger’s number on your nightstand, under your triptans and ice-​packs. If you suffer from Migraines, you will have a new life that you never knew you could have, if you are able to get into this doctor. He is a «boutique» expert, who does home visits in L.A. Dr. Hirschinger is at the VERY TOP of the food chain for all doctors related to head/​face pain: this is WHAT HE DOES, and he does it well. I am a lifetime Migrainer — you may know the head-​in-​a-​vice, hammering, intense, nausea: trying triptan after triptan, nasals, subliminal, acupuncture, accupressure/​massage, chiropractor, neurologists, shall I go on? Focusing on myofascial pain, he knows absolutely the every thing there is to know in this specialty – (he also diagnosed a severe jaw pain I had been living with for 20 years which every other doctor called «TMJ», but was actually this a condition called trigeminal neuralgia). His diagnostic skill is unparalleled — he is incisive, specific, clever, out-​of-​the-​box. His migraine treatment is customized to you and brilliant. He has a variety of treatments. One time I went in, he gave me local, specific shots in my head/​neck that knocked out my migraine INSTANTLY. The second time I met him, my husband called him and had him enter into my dark-​curtains-​closed bedroom, where I lay, with the vice-​grip migraine. He gently came in and sat by my bed, quietly asking me simple, pointed questions, upon which he gave me an intense spray treatment (releasing a layer of the facial/​neck/​shoulder muscle pain) a shot in my leg, and left me (my husband) with instructions/​treatments/​info, that I had not heard before (after many specialists)! Oh yeah, and when he left, the migraine left with him.

I came to Dr. Hirschinger because of a restricted jaw opening, jaw pain, and headaches. My symptoms were so discomforting that I thought I needed surgery, but with Dr. Hirshcinger’s help all of my problems were alleviated within weeks! Dr. Hirschinger is an incredibly educated professional with a true passion for what he does. He really took the time to learn absolutely everything he needed to know about me, and my quality of life has vastly improved since him. Dr. Hirschinger really is the best!