TMD/TMJ

Your temporomandibular joint is a very important joint on each side of your face, that is located just in front of your ears!   This joint connects your lower jaw bone (mandible) to your skull to promote important daily movements like chewing and speaking!  The TMJ is connected by muscles and ligaments and plays a role in symptoms such as: 

• Jaw Pain 

• Clicking or Popping

• Difficulty with Opening or Closing the Jaw

• Ear Pain/Ringing in the Ear

• Dizziness

• Headaches 

• Muscle Tension

If you have a history of clenching or grinding, mouth breathing, habitual nail/pen biting, whiplash or trauma to head/neck you may have experience with some of the symptoms listed above.  The good news is, physical therapy is one of the first lines of defense for treating these disorders.

A physical therapist is a movement expert and has immense knowledge in treating your TMJ symptoms and the surrounding structures influencing the joint(s).  Other important structures to assess and treat are the cervical and thoracic spine, breathing patterns, tongue position, posture, core and upper body strength - just to name a few!

We can help using a variety of treatment approaches including manual hands on therapy to release tight structures and joints, dry needling, posture education, lifestyle modification recommendations and stretch/strengthening programming that are personalized to you!

If you are looking for a whole body approach to treating your TMJ symptoms, give us a call today!