TMJ Pain and Stiffness
Physiotherapy treatment
What is the TMJ?
The Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) refers to your jaw joint. It is the joint between the mandible which is your jaw bone and your temporal bone which is the part of the skull at the side of your head that it attaches to. There are two TMJs, one on either side of your face. The TMJ is the hardest working joint in your body. You use it for eating, smiling, chewing, drinking, singing, laughing and speaking. Pain and stiffness in the TMJ can have a debilitating effect on a person's life.
Symptoms of TMD - Temporomandibular disorders
TMD is the umbrella term for pain in the TMJ and in the surrounding structures and muscles. Patients with TMD may have the following symptoms:
Pain in the jaw / face / teeth / and ear.
Difficulty opening the mouth
Clicking and locking
Teeth grinding or clenching
Difficulty eating certain foods
Facial pain or headaches particularly around the temples or ears
Categories of Jaw Pain
Articular pain - pain that originates mostly from the joint. This may include problems with the disc or be related to degenerative changes within the TMJ.
Myofascial pain - pain that originates mostly from the muscles and fascia
Myalgia - complex pain with multiple contributing factors
Referred pain - sometimes pain is referred to the jaw area from the neck, so the problem is in the neck but is felt as jaw pain and vice a versa
Often more than one category will be present and the treatment and management of the client will differ between them.
The following video showing the movement of the disc within the TMJ and how in some people this can cause articular pain and clicking.
Physiotherapy Treatment for Jaw Pain
Physiotherapy treatment aims to restore or improve movement, help reduce pain and give patients the right advice and education to help them manage their jaw pain. During a treatment session at Thrive Physiotherapy Tring I would take a detailed history and then base my holistic treatment on each individual client. Treatment techniques may involve:
Release of the surrounding muscles both external and intra-oral
Manual therapy on the jaw joint itself
Treatment of the neck and shoulder muscles if appropriate
Strengthening exercises
Acupuncture
Advice and education
