Have you experienced pain or clicking whilst talking or chewing?
Do you suffer from neck pain or stiffness that isn’t made worse by movement?
Do you suffer from headaches felt at the front and sides of the head?
The TMJ (temporomandibular joint)
The temporomandibular joint is the connecting point between the mandible (the jaw) and the temporal bone (the bones at the side of the head). The TMJ and its associated structure, such as the muscles involved in jaw movements (you can feel these muscles when you clench your jaw), play an essential; role in guiding jaw motion and distributing stresses from everyday tasks such as talking, swallowing and speaking. TMJ pain is often viewed as a repetitive motion disorder (caused by excessive jaw movements), which makes it similar to other musculoskeletal disorders, such as a muscle strain from overworking. Although it can also be caused by degeneration disorders of the joint, as seen in Osteoarthritis which accounts for roughly 54.2% of cases.
However, TMJ pain is not only limited to the jaw, because of its extensive connection to the skull and neck the pain from the jaw may actually be referred to the back of the head, neck and even in rare cases the shoulders. TMJ dysfunction is also responsible for some headaches, when the muscles in your jaw tense up — like when you grind your teeth — the pain can spread to other TMJ muscles alongside your cheeks and on the sides and top of your head, causing a headache.
Did you know that TMJ disorder, aka Temporomandibular joint dysfunction, is one of the leading causes of chronic headache, neck pain and neck stiffness in the population? With 33% of individuals being affected by it at some point in their lifetime. One of the leading causes of TMJ pain is osteoarthritis 54.2%, although
How can we help?
Current research shows that conservative management through manual therapy through osteopathy can be an effective conservative, cost and time effective treatment option for TMJ, by working on improving the joints mobility and reducing the tension in the tissues surrounding the joint. At the Art of Healing we provide a bespoke, tailored acupuncture treatment to address the TMJ and associated structures, combining the latest scientific approaches to wellness therapy and traditional acupuncture. If you are suffering from any of the symptoms listed previously, such as jaw/neck pain or headaches, we may be able to help!
