TMJ
TMJ
What Is TMJ Disorder? Causes, Symptoms, and How Physical Therapy Can Help:
Do you suffer from headaches, grinding of your teeth, clicking of your jaw, or even ear pain? These can all be signs of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome, also known as the temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD). This a disorder of the jaw muscles and nerves caused by injury to the TMJ, which is the joint between your jaw and skull. The injured temporomandibular joint leads to pain with chewing, clicking, and popping of the jaw; swelling on the sides of the face; nerve inflammation; headaches; tooth grinding; and sometimes dislocation of the temporomandibular joint.
What causes TMJ syndrome?
Multiple factors contribute to muscle tightness and dysfunction that characterize this condition. Most often, poor posture and neck alignment change the pull of the muscles that make your jaw move. This causes painful grinding and irritation of the TMJ. Other causes may include:
- Poor alignment of or trauma to the teeth or jaw
- Teeth grinding
- Poor posture
- Stress
- Arthritis or other inflammatory musculoskeletal disorders
- Excessive gum chewing
Benefits of a Manual Therapy Approach:
- Decrease pain and muscle guarding
- Increase range of motion
- Increase postural awareness
- Restore joint movement around a normal physiological axis
- Preventing unnecessary drug use while providing treatment
At FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers, our licensed physical therapists take a thorough and personalized approach to treating TMJ disorder. Once we identify the root cause of your symptoms, we’ll create a customized treatment plan designed to relieve your pain and restore natural jaw movement.
Our therapy focuses on relaxing tight muscles, improving mobility, and releasing scar tissue - helping you regain normal function and reduce discomfort. In many cases, physical therapy alone can successfully resolve TMJ symptoms and eliminate the need for surgery. If surgery is required, physical therapy plays a crucial role in recovery by minimizing scar tissue, reducing muscle tightness, and promoting full, lasting healing.
Don’t wait to get relief! Call us today at 303.409.2133 to schedule your evaluation and start feeling better.