How Chiropractic Care Can Help Relieve TMJ Pain Naturally?

Are you feeling tenderness in your jaw? Or maybe your jaw is making popping and clicking sounds. The chances are you have TMJ (temporomandibular joint) pain.

It is a condition that causes pain and discomfort in the center of your jaw, leading to chronic headaches. According to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, 12% of Americans experience TMJ pain.

Therefore, the condition is far from rare and can be treated with various options. Of course, over-the-counter medications can ease pain, but they’re a temporary solution. Not to mention, there can be multiple side effects.

If you want to know how to relieve TMJ pain naturally, then chiropractic care can be a practical approach. The non-invasive treatment not only works on the joint but also focuses on the neck, spine, and posture affecting the jaw.

Using hands-on adjustments and therapies, a professional chiropractor addresses muscle tension for the jaw movement. Additionally, they focus on the overall structural balance for long-term relief.

So, can chiropractors help with TMJ pain? This blog will answer your question. Furthermore, it will discuss the symptoms and causes of TMJ pain, as well as the expectations for a chiropractic session.

What is TMJ?

TMJ or Temporomandibular Joint disorder is a condition that affects the temporomandibular joint. The joint refers to the spot where the temporal bone of the skull connects with the mandible or jawbone. It is a cartilage disc that separates the two bones and allows smooth gliding.

The smooth gliding of the bones focuses on two core functions of TMJ. The first function of the joint is to act as a hinge to open and close your mouth. Its second function is to provide a sliding motion in which the lower jaw moves down, forward, and from side to side, enabling tasks such as yawning, chewing, and singing.

When you open your mouth, the upper ends of the jawbone on each side glide along the jaw socket at the base of the skull. As you close your mouth, they slide back to their original position.

As you close your mouth, you may hear a popping sound as it returns to its original position. That sound is the core of TMJ pain.

When you experience TMJ pain, it affects the temporomandibular joint, jaw muscles, and facial nerves. Though in many cases, the pain goes away with easy movements, at other times it requires utmost attention.

Of course, medications and surgery are treatment options, but they are considered as a last resort. As soon as you detect the popping sound, a chiro for TMJ can be helpful.

Causes and Symptoms of TMJ Disorders

After knowing what TMJ is, let’s understand how it occurs and its warning signs. TMJ pain can vary from person to person, and addressing it can help resolve the condition.

What causes TMJ?

When the disc or the jawbone moves out of its normal position, it can trigger TMJ pain. The disc or jawbone moves from its original place when the surrounding muscles become too tight.

Such a situation can cause significant discomfort, affecting the jaw muscles and facial nerves. Moreover, the discomfort becomes more intense due to the following reasons:

Trauma: An injury to the jaw, face, or head can disrupt jaw muscle movement, leading to TMJ pain.

Poor posture: Slouching or forward head movement can disrupt the jaw alignment, leading to TMJ disorders.

Excessive chewing: Constant gum chewing can strain the joint, and you may experience excruciating pain.

Bruxism: A clenching habit or teeth grinding overworks the jaw muscles and joint. As a result, it causes TMJ disorders.

Dental issues: Issues with tooth fit or a misaligned bite hinder smooth joint gliding, leading to spasms and pain.

What are the symptoms of TMJ?

Depending on the causes, there can be various symptoms of TMJ. However, you should know that the symptoms vary from person to person.

For instance, if a person experiences trauma, the warning sign for TMJ could be headaches or stiffness in the jaw movement. Nevertheless, the condition has some common symptoms, which are as follows:

Earaches

Neck pain

Jaw pain

Difficulty in opening the mouth

Popping or clicking in the jaw

Pain when chewing

Tenderness in the jaw muscles

While TMJ may not be intensely painful, when you experience discomfort, seeking a chiropractor for TMJ pain can be helpful. They can focus on the jaw as part of the whole musculoskeletal system to address stiffness and pain.

How Chiropractic Care Helps Relieve TMJ Pain?

In some mild cases, TMJ can go on its own. However, if you experience pain and discomfort associated with TMJ, you don’t have to wait to get your life back.

While pain-relievers will ease the discomfort, when their effects wear off, the pain will come back. If you’re looking for a long-term solution, chiropractic care for TMJ is something worth considering.

It is a safe and non-invasive approach that addresses the root causes of TMJ pain. Using various TMJ chiropractic techniques, a chiropractor will ease jaw muscle tension and realign its position for more flexible movement.

Moreover, they incorporate exercises to reduce joint stiffness, easing TMJ pain. The following are the ways chiropractors help with TMJ pain:

Assessing TMJ pain

When it comes to TMJ pain and chiropractic care, the practice is non-invasive and targets the root causes of the condition. A chiropractor treats problems in the area where the skull and jaw meet.

These problems include pain, soreness, jaw stiffness, and dizziness. As such problems can interfere with daily activities, like eating or talking, it is essential to seek professional help.

Chiropractic care aims to assess the cause of muscle soreness around the temporomandibular joint and jaw muscles. Targeting the joint, they will massage and realign the muscles to reduce the pain.

Chiropractic Adjustments

With a chiropractic TMJ adjustment, the professionals will unlock the stiff jaw muscles and ensure proper joint mobility. The method involves manual adjustments where the chiropractor will ensure every muscle, nerve, and bone around the temporomandibular joint is in a natural position.

Using their hands, they will locate the misalignment around these areas and adjust them. It will make a cracking sound, ensuring every part of the musculoskeletal system is in the right position.

Moreover, chiropractic care for TMJ will help relieve neck pain, headaches, and other underlying symptoms of the disorder. They will slowly move your head, jaw, and connective muscles back to their original positions, reducing these symptoms.

Chiropractic Techniques for TMJ

Besides hands-on adjustments to the jaw, other chiropractic and TMJ adjustments target the spine. Often, misalignment of the cervical spine and upper back can affect jaw function, leading to muscle tension. As a result, you may experience TMJ pain.

By adjusting the spine, the chiropractor realigns it, thereby easing the muscles around it. As a result, it loosens the jaw joint, increasing its flexibility and reducing the pain. Other than spinal adjustments, chiropractic techniques also include:

Soft Tissue Therapy: The technique involves using gentle pressure on the muscles around the fascia and jaw. It helps relax the muscles and improve circulation. Optimal blood flow improves jaw movement, naturally relieving TMJ symptoms.
Dry Needling: A question may cross your mind- what’s the point of dry needling in TMJ pain? Well, the process of inserting the needles may be scary, but it helps locate the trigger point for TMJ. Using a sterile, long-filament needle, the chiropractor will target the tight muscles around the jaw to release tension. That way, it will ease you from the pain and dysfunction due to TMJ disorder.
Laser Therapy is a technique that uses infrared light to target the jaw joint. By doing so, the chiropractor will penetrate the connective tissue and stimulate mitochondria to produce cellular energy. When that happens, it will reduce inflammation and pain around the joint and jaw muscles.

Rehabilitative Exercises

As a part of chiro treatment for TMJ, the professionals may recommend certain rehabilitative exercises. These exercises focus on increasing the range of motion, strengthening muscles, and improving circulation to reduce TMJ pain.

By focusing on these goals, the exercises relieve tension and restore the overall joint function. The core rehabilitative exercises for TMJ include:

Chin Tucks: You will lie on your back and create a chin tuck (double chin). Then, hold and gently lift your head while maintaining the tuck. The exercise will correct forward head posture and strengthen deep neck muscles.

Resting Position: The exercise involves placing the thumb under the chin and gently pushing it while trying to open the mouth. Such a position helps reduce your clenching or grinding habit that may strain the jaw joint.

Goldfish Exercise: Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, gently open your mouth, and close it. The simple exercise stretches connective tissues to improve jaw mobility and reduce TMJ pain.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care for TMJ

After learning about how chiropractic treatment for TMJ works, you may want to explore the benefits of the holistic approach. The various techniques and adjustments chiropractors use help improve jaw movement and relieve pain.

As you experience the pain in your jaw and surrounding muscles reducing, you can open and close your mouth, take a big bite, and sing effortlessly. Moreover, chiropractic care offers other benefits with TMJ. They are as follows:

Reduces inflammation: Using techniques such as soft-tissue therapy, chiropractors target the muscles surrounding the jaw. They put gentle pressure on these areas to stimulate blood circulation. When the blood flow improves, it relaxes the muscles in these areas, reducing swelling and inflammation.

Improves jaw function: Chiropractors realign the spine through hands-on adjustments. It thus relaxes the tight muscles and connective tissues, relieving muscle tension. As it does that, you can experience better jaw mobility. With chiropractic care, you can thus ensure easier jaw movement and less difficulty opening and closing your mouth.

Non-invasive treatment: The pain and discomfort that come with TMJ often go away if you consume painkillers. However, that comes with a myriad of side effects, including fatigue and dizziness. Chiropractic care, on the other hand, offers a non-invasive approach, which makes it a safe and low-risk alternative to treat TMJ. With a series of adjustments and techniques, the professional targets the jaw joint and muscles to ease tension.

Relief pain: With adjustments, chiropractors help relieve pain. They use pressure and stretching techniques to manipulate and realign your joints. By doing so, you may experience cracking sounds, which will help ease the muscles. As a result, it will help alleviate TMJ pain.

What to Expect During a Chiropractic Session for TMJ?

Learning about the benefits of chiropractic care will encourage many people to incorporate it into their treatment plan. As someone new to chiropractors and their techniques, you may not know what to expect from these sessions.

The truth is, you can expect effective jaw pain management and better joint alignment with TMJ syndrome and chiropractic treatment. It is the core goal of the session. However, before achieving the goal, there are certain other expectations from chiropractors, such as:

Consultation and assessment: When you seek a chiropractic appointment, you should discuss your symptoms and medical history with the professional. By understanding these factors, the chiropractor will evaluate muscle tension, jaw popping, and range of motion.
Introducing chiropractic techniques: After assessing the root cause of TMJ, chiropractors tailor a treatment plan to address each patient’s unique needs. The plan includes a wide range of techniques and exercises focused on the jaw joint and surrounding muscles. These techniques include manual adjustments, soft-tissue therapy, dry needling, and more.
Positioning: The chiropractor will ensure that you are in the right position. They will combine different techniques and hands-on movements to realign your jaw, adjoining muscles, and tissues.
Sensation: As the chiropractor uses the techniques, they may use sustained pressure or gentle stretching in some areas of the jaw joint. The pressure and stretching can cause a sensation deep down the nerves and bones, resulting in pain relief.
Frequency: Depending on your condition, the chiropractor will recommend the frequency of the sessions. You can expect weekly visits when you’re starting with chiropractic treatment for TMJ. As the discomfort slowly reduces, you can decrease the frequency.

Say Goodbye to TMJ Pain with Action Chiropractic and Sports Injury Center

Can chiropractors help with TMJ pain? Absolutely, they can. Using a series of adjustments and techniques, chiropractors address the root causes of TMJ along with its symptoms.

The practice of chiropractic care is natural and non-invasive, making it a safe and low-risk alternative for you. Combining soft tissue therapy, dry needling, and laser therapy, chiropractors increase jaw mobility and reduce muscle tension.

Don’t let the popping of the jaw joint interfere with your daily life. At Action Chiropractic and Sports Injury Center, we offer personalized chiropractic care to take care of your unique needs.

Our trained chiropractor, Dr. Durnas, uses a series of jaw and spinal adjustments to realign the joints and muscles. Through these adjustments, we work on the muscles of the jaw, face, and neck to restore their movement and function.

Visit our chiropractic services to get rid of TMJ pain without any hassle!