TMJ and Jaw Pain Treatment in Columbia, Maryland
What is Jaw Pain
Pain in the joint that hinges when you move your jaw. It’s commonly referred to as “jaw pain”. The exact cause can be difficult to determine, but includes genetics, arthritis, an injury, or aberrant jaw motion.
Jaw Pain Treatment
Typical Treatment: Your dentist might give you a night guard if you clench your teeth. Other treatment includes trigger point injection and medications.
- How we handle Jaw Pain or TMJ Treatment
There are multiple muscles involved in your jaw opening and closing. It can be “as simple” as finding what muscles aren’t working right or are spasm and fixing that issue.
If you get the muscles to work correctly, the jaw motion can normalize, which can get rid of the pain. Postural exercises are also key in the rehab of jaw pain.
If you slouch or your posture is bad, it changes the biomechanics of your jaw, making it harder to open your mouth.
Dr. Josh Bross’ Take
To treat this properly, you need to identify all muscles involved, both the outside jaw muscles and inside jaw muscles. The medial pterygoid muscle is often very tight and spasmed in people with jaw pain, so if you can release that, you can help the problem significantly.
Causes of TMJ Treatment
TMJ, or jaw pain, can have both sudden onsets and delayed onsets. Some patients experience jaw pain after an accident or trauma and know to seek jaw pain treatment ASAP to help correct the issue. In some instances, however, jaw pain can come on slowly and without a sudden traumatic incident.
It’s important to be aware of what is the underlying cause of your jaw pain to help seek the right TMJ therapy. Our chiropractors can help asses your TMJ treatment in Columbia, MD to provide the right TMJ therapies to help stop the pain.
- Trauma to the head, neck, or face
- Joint diseases (ie, arthritis)
- Hormonal imbalances or hormonal changes
- Bite problems
- High levels of stress
Signs or Symptoms of TMJ Treatment
- Headaches
- Shoulder, neck, and/or facial pain
- Clicking or popping when opening the jaw
- Limited jaw mobility or a locked jaw
- Teeth clenching or grinding resulting in teeth wear
- Pain when chewing or working the jaw
- Tenderness around ears, jaw, head, or neck
- Chronic earaches
TMJ doesn’t always present with only jaw pain. There are other ways to know you may need to seek treatment options for TMJ before you have consistent jaw pressure and pain.
Be aware of how your body feels or reacts following traumas, high periods of stress, hormonal changes, or following a new diagnosis.
It is never too soon to contact our chiropractic practice for TMJ treatment in Columbia, MD. You deserve pain free living, we help you stay ahead.
TMJ Treatment Frequently Asked Questions
TMJ Therapy Treatment focuses on relieving the cause of jaw pain, or Temporomandibular Joint pain. Chiropractors focus on treating TMJ by using massage techniques, dry needling, posture correction, adjustments, and physical therapy exercises that may focus on referred pain areas.
TMJ disorder treatment is approached with TMJ therapy in Columbia, MD. Our chiropractors will look at areas that may be affecting the jaw, including posture, referred pain areas, or other muscles that may be spasming. It can be treated with physical therapy, chiropractic adjustments, and dry needling, among other techniques.
TMJ physical therapy may be part of your TMJ treatment in Columbia, MD. It focuses on exercises you can do at home to help treat the cause of the jaw pain, including focusing on posture, muscles, and other areas contributing to the pain for long-term relief.
To treat jaw pain, you do not always need to visit a dentist. Oftentimes, jaw pain comes from the muscles, not the teeth. A chiropractor’s office can help alleviate those muscles to reduce jaw pain and treat the underlying symptoms.
Jaw pain is often why people seek TMJ therapy treatments but there are other signs of TMJ that accompany jaw pain. You may also have intense headaches from teeth grinding or clenching and have soreness along your neck, shoulders, or even earaches. We can help assess your pain at Elite Chiropractic to determine the cause and create a treatment plan.
Jaw pain relief and TMJ therapies are best provided for by a chiropractor or professional. Our TMJ therapies include TMJ treatments you can do at home to help alleviate the pain while we also apply adjustments and techniques in office. You may work on relaxing your jaw, focusing on reducing stress, wearing a mouth guard, eating soft foods, and other supplements to help TMJ treatments along.
