3 game-changing physical therapy techniques to alleviate your TMJ pain

You likely don’t think about how often you open your mouth to talk, yawn or chew food until it becomes painful to do those everyday actions. Your temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, connects your jawbone to your skull and works as a sliding hinge. When it’s not properly functioning, it can cause pain and reduced movement.

TMJ pain usually stems from TMJD, or temporomandibular joint dysfunction, though many people refer to it simply as TMJ. If you’re experiencing TMJ pain that’s interfering with your quality of life, then a physical therapist can show you a few techniques to alleviate your symptoms.

3 TMJ physical therapy techniques

It’s not unlikely to assume that you should turn to a dentist when you’re experiencing TMJ pain. But a physical therapist is able to target the root issue of your symptoms and help restore its regular function. 

Here are three physical therapy techniques worth testing out:

• Exercises

A physical therapist can guide you through stretches and strengthening exercises that can reduce TMJ pain when it flares up. Stretches like goldfish and relaxed jaw exercises can increase the joint’s flexibility and reduce painful tension. You can also do exercises like resisted opening and closing to strengthen the surrounding muscles to alleviate pain and reduce it in the future. You can continue to practice these exercises between appointments and after your treatment is over.

• Dry needling

Your physical therapist may recommend a modality like dry needling to reduce your TMJ pain. It’s a technique that uses thin needles to stimulate and release trigger points in your TMJ area that are contributing to your pain. It can also reduce the muscle tension that can be causing stiffness and reduced range of motion of the joint.

• Joint mobilization

Manual therapy refers to hands-on techniques that a physical therapist can use to directly address the problem areas. For TMJ pain, a manual therapy technique like joint mobilization can help. A physical therapist can use their hands to find the restrictive tissue that’s causing your pain and manipulate it with repetitive movements to release the tension. 

At REPAIR SI, we help you alleviate pain in nearly every part of your body, including an area as small as your jaw. If you’re experiencing TMJ pain, we’ll work with you to find the safest and most effective treatments for the root cause of your issue.

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.