TMJ Treatment in Sydney

What is TMJ?

TMJ is an acronym for temporomandibular joint. These joints are located just in front of the ears on both sides of the face. The TMJs are the joints that connect the lower jawbone to the skull and aid in movements such as chewing and speaking.

 

TMJ Disorder or Syndrome is a term used to describe the disorders (TMD), which occur due to problems with the jaw, joint, and surrounding facial muscles that control jaw movement and chewing. This joint is a hinge joint that connects the lower jaw to the skull's temporal bone. This bone is located in front of the ear on each side of the head. When the joints are working properly, they are flexible, allowing the jaw to move smoothly side to side and up and down, allowing one to chew, talk, and yawn. Muscles attach to and surround the jaw joint to control its position and movement.

 

What is TMD?

 

TMD is an acronym for temporomandibular joint disorder and refers to any TMJ dysfunction. Many people interchange the terms TMJ and TMD. TMJ dysfunction occurs when your jaw joints' muscles and ligaments become inflamed or irritated. The condition can be acute or chronic, and the pain it causes can be mild or severe.

 

TMJ Pain Causes and Symptoms

 

Many people suffer from TMJD or TMJ pain, but the exact cause of this condition is unknown. Potential factors include injury to the jaw joints or surrounding tissues, repetitive stress on the bones and muscles around the TMJ, malformation of the jawbones, tooth decay, grinding or clenching your teeth, malocclusion (bad bite), and exposure to toxins. Injury to the jaw joints or surrounding tissues can result in TMJ disorder. 

 

Other causes of TMD include:

• Stress.

• Bruxism (grinding/clenching of the teeth).

• The disc between the ball and socket joint has dislocated.

• The TMJ is arthritic.

• Acute injury.

• An incorrect bite.

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TMJ dysfunction is most common for people aged 20 to 40, and it affects women more than men. 

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The following are some of the most common TMJ dysfunction symptoms:

• Jaw ache.

• Headaches.

• Earaches.

• Neck and shoulder discomfort

• It's difficult to open your mouth wide.

• Jaws that "lock" in either an open or closed position.

• When you open or close your mouth, you may hear a clicking, popping, or grating sound in your jaw joint.

• Fatigued facial muscles

• Chewing is difficult.

• Tinnitus is also known as ringing in the ears.

• Modifications to the way your teeth fit together.

• The side of your face is swollen.

• Toothache

 

What is a Trigger Point Massage/Therapy?

 

Fascia runs through every muscle in your body and acts as the "glue" that holds your muscle tissue together. A trigger point is a small, tight area in muscle fibers or fascia that restricts blood flow and causes pain. These "knots" get so tight that they can be felt beneath the skin. They are typically very sensitive, causing excruciating pain that appears out of proportion to the amount of pressure applied.

 

One distinguishing feature of trigger points is that the pain is not always felt at the trigger point's location. When you have an active trigger point (as opposed to a passive trigger point), the pain can be felt all over your body (this is known as "referred pain"). Back pain may be felt in the neck, referring to pain in the head. You may not feel any pain in some cases. Instead, the muscle may feel tight, stiff, or have a limited range of motion.

 

Trigger points can form due to weakness, small tears, tense muscles, dehydration, or even a poor diet (high protein, dairy and gluten and certain inflammatory stimulating foods can predispose people to tension). When overworked or injured muscle fibers cannot relax, a mini contraction in a small area of the fascia or muscle fiber can occur. The muscle band on either side of the trigger point is stretched due to this. The knot of contracted tissue also restricts blood flow to the area, effectively "starving" the muscle of oxygen and causing waste material to build up within the cells.

 

The pain of a trigger point may prevent you from moving the affected muscle, causing other muscle fibres to contract and more trigger points to form. This is why prompt, effective treatment is critical. Fortunately, trigger point massage is a simple way to encourage trigger point release.

 

How does TMJ/Temporomandibular Joint Massage help?

 

This technique uses pressure and release techniques to deactivate sensitive points in muscle fibers. These trigger points are well-known for sending pain to other parts of the body. A trigger point in the neck muscles, for example, can refer to pain in the head, giving you the sensation of a headache. The trigger point in the neck will be the root cause of this. The headache will be relieved by releasing this trigger point. 

 

Deep tissue massage/myofascial release of the upper neck, jaw and head muscles may be used in treatment. Neck and jaw muscles can be dry needled. Active release techniques for the jaw and neck muscles and intra-oral gloved massage for the muscles inside the mouth are available. Major jaw muscles are the medial and lateral Pterygoid muscles, located inside the mouth can be released to help relieve your jaw pain.

 

Consider Trigger Point Therapy with Mojotherapy

 

This is a method for massaging and treating myofascial trigger points (MTrP) or "trigger points" (TrP) in muscles and fascia. These trigger points are painful, tense spots in muscles. MTrPs affect the muscles and fascia and can occur anywhere on the body, and are a common cause of chronic musculoskeletal pain, also known as myofascial pain. A certified therapist can help you achieve long-term results by releasing these painful and tense points in your muscles. Manual TMJ and Dry Needling are the two main methods for treating trigger points.

 

The goal is to release or soften a knot to reduce (or eliminate) knot pain and associated pain. This is accomplished by applying varying degrees of pressure to muscle knots and then stretching the affected areas through their full range of motion. Though the "map" of muscle trigger points and pain is complex, the process of relaxing the trigger points is straightforward. 

 

Mojotherapy is here to assist you. We will provide comprehensive massage treatment to alleviate your symptoms, or we can get to the bottom of what's causing your TMJ pain and advise you on stretching, strengthening, and lifestyle changes. We make every effort to keep our services and products up to date with the latest science and research and study various approaches and methods to find the best solution for our clients.

 

At Mojotherapy we are passionate about providing you with the highest level of health treatment, care, and satisfaction. We ensure that even your recovery is as quick and efficient as possible by focusing on your individual needs and tailoring your treatment accordingly. With our massage and methods, we can help many clients get out of pain and move again.

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What Areas Do We Service?

We are based in Ashfield and typically service clients from the following areas;

 

Suburbs inner west: Annandale, Ashfield, Ashbury, Camperdown, Canterbury, Croydon, Croydon Park, Concord, Canada Bay, Dulwich Hill, Enmore, Five Dock, Haberfield, Hurlstone Park, Lewisham, Leichhardt, Lilyfield, Marrickville, Newtown, Petersham, Stanmore, Summer Hill,  St Peters, Sydenham, Tempe.

 

Though we have had clients as far as Parramatta, Baulkham Hills, Hurstville, Surry Hills and Randwick.