Going Through the Pains of Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Dysfunction

Restore mobility of Oral Joints or TMJ Dysfunction With Physiotherapy by Millwoods Physical Therapy Centre

Are you experiencing sore jaw, headaches, earaches and facial pain? Then you must be suffering from TMJ dysfunction, and it is high time that you consult with certified physiotherapists at Millwoods Physical Therapy Centre.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Disorders

Temporomandibular Joint disorder is a condition that affects the jaw joint and surrounding muscles and ligaments. It can result from trauma, an improper bite, arthritis or wear & tear. The temporomandibular joints are located on both sides of your face. These joints connect the lower jaw bone to the skull and helps in movements such as chewing and speaking.
This condition is caused when the muscles and ligaments around the jaw joints become inflamed or irritated. The condition may be acute or chronic, and the pain can range from mild to severe.

Major causes of TMJ Dysfunction

Some common symptoms of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder are

How can Physiotherapists at Millwoods Physical Therapy Centre help you combat TMJ Dysfunctionality

A trained and certified physiotherapist can help your condition by teaching you relaxation, stretching and strengthening exercises for the face, heads and neck muscles. These exercises further help to augment the effect of mouth guard your dentist might have recommended.

At Millwoods Physical Therapy Centre, our physiotherapists will at first conduct a thorough examination of the neck, shoulder and thoracic spine and determine the cause and reason of such symptoms because the knowledge of the causes help physiotherapists understand how muscle and joint remobilization techniques can reduce the symptoms and even eliminate it completely.

The physiotherapy for TMJ Dysfunction includes a plethora of procedures and modalities like jaw exercise, soft tissue massage, joint mobilization, myofascial techniques, electrical stimulation and ultrasound.

Manual hand-on-therapy targeting the jaws show significant improvements, in term of reduction of cervicogenic headaches and neck pain.
Physiotherapist can also recommend consultation with dentists (myofascial techniques), particularly splinting. Splinting can help keep your jaws aligned in position which would again help in reduction of pain and inflammation.

The physical therapy for TMJ can also involve certain therapeutic modalities such heat or ice therapy, electric stimulation and ultrasound, which can effectively reduce pain and inflammation.

Exercises recommended by physiotherapists at Millwoods Physical Therapy Centre will help strengthen the muscles around the jaw joint and can eventually reduce swelling and pain.

Some of the jaw exercises for treating TMJ Dysfunction are

The benefits of Physiotherapy for treating TMJ Dysfunction are