Injury Spotlight: TMJ
Today we are going to talk about jaw pain, also known as TMJ disorder! I know, you may be thinking “Why is a chiropractor talking about TMJ?”. The truth is, as a chiropractor, I treat a lot more than just back pain. On a daily basis, I will treat a variety of injuries from head to toe. Chiropractors are popular for back pain, but in reality we have a much broader skillset.
Jaw pain is a condition that is seen with fairly high frequency in our office. If you consider the underlying causes, it may not be difficult to understand why. In most cases, people develop jaw pain from clenching or grinding their teeth, both when asleep and when awake throughout the day. But why would someone start up with this painful habit? Stress, of course! Stress triggers a variety of chemical and physical changes in the body and lead people to experience chronic tension. A major way this manifests physically is through tensing up in the neck and clenching the jaw. If this practice goes on long enough, it’s sure to lead to damage to the teeth and damage to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).
To determine if you might have TMJ issues, let’s go over a few of the common symptoms:
Pain in the jaw, often after sleeping
Pain with chewing food
Ear pain
A “clicking” sound or sensation in the jaw.
Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears
Now the most important part: How do you correct this problem? As I said before, stress is often the underlying cause of TMJ issues, so first you need to address your stress! There are a variety of methods for stress management, like exercise, mediation, and therapy. Find whatever works for you and use it. This can take some trial and error at first, but once you find some techniques that work for you, you can better tackle whatever is bothering you.
In addition to stress management, our office uses a combination of techniques to correct this problem. We will determine the stiffness of jaw movement and use joint mobilization techniques to restore proper motion. We will also use direct muscle therapies on the muscles around the jaw and teach a series of exercises to help mobilize and strengthen the area. Lastly, we may recommend specific types of mouth protection in order to protect you while sleeping at night.
TMJ problems have a tendency to be quite stubborn and they need to be addressed consistently to help heal. Through my experience, I have found that if my patients do what I recommend, their outcomes can be good and relief ultimately doesn’t take too long. So, the next time you wake up with jaw pain, find out what’s stressing you out and give us a call. We are always here to help you get back on track!
Rob Liguori, DC
