Manual therapy is a joint, muscle, and tissue manipulation designed to improve mobility through hands-on movements that is effective in improving musculoskeletal pain issues. Manual therapy is effective in providing benefits to the body through biomechanical as well as neurophysiological methods.
At Results Physiotherapy, we see tremendous growth and pain reduction in our patients who we use our hands-on manual therapy on. In fact, we use manual therapy in over 90 percent of our patients’ personalized treatment plans. TMJ pain is one of the common physical therapy treatment programs that we treat at Results Physiotherapy, and manual therapy has been shown to help patients who suffer from it. TMJ pain typically occurs in the jaw area and can often be acute or chronic pain depending on a number of different contributing factors.
For those individuals who are looking to prevent TMJ pain, trying to find methods to soothe TMJ pain, or want to learn more about TMJ, manual therapy and our licensed physical therapists can help you with the answers and treatment you need.
What are a few ways manual therapy can help relieve pain in patients who are suffering from TMJ pain?
There are several ways in which manual therapy can help patients find relief for their TMJ pain. We’ve identified some of the most common ways in which manual therapy can help patients with their TMJ pain which includes but is not limited to:
Manipulation of soft tissue can improve joint mobility in stiff joints and reduces muscle tension to allow muscles to revert back to a relaxed state. One of the biggest issues that cause individuals patients to potentially suffer from TMJ pain is the strain and tension that their jaw can be under. With manual therapy, a physical therapist will work with you to help you work through exercises to improve your jaw’s mobility and improve the stiffness that could be contributing to your TMJ pain.
Many patients experience immediate relief in modification to pain processing sensors, reduced inflammation, reduced spinal pain sensitivity, and increased motivation of the sympathetic nervous system.
Manual therapy can show dramatic improvement in both structural changes within the body as well as movement in the tissues that are injured.
Manual therapy uses hands-on manipulation to bring the jaw back into alignment so there is less chance of teeth grinding. Often times certain alignment issues can cause TMJ issues to creep in over time. With manual therapy, a physical therapist will work with you to make sure that the alignment is correct and there aren’t any structural alignment issues that could be contributing to your TMJ pain.
Manual therapy methods are usually broken down into soft tissue mobilization and manipulation with each patient. An example of soft tissue mobilization would be a massage that could increase circulation, break down scar tissue, and relax the muscles.
The other manual therapy technique is mobilization, which can be the manipulation of the muscles and bones to place them into the proper position. The mobilization technique can help loosen any tight and uncomfortable tissues surrounding a joint, improve the mobility in the area and align the muscles or joints back into a functional position. If your jaw isn’t aligned properly, whether its the muscles or the joints, it could build up significant tension, wear, and stress in those areas that can lead to significant pain over time.
The most common pain location when experiencing TMJ pain is typically in the muscles surrounding the joint. This pain can stem from abnormal stress or small erosions to the shock-absorbing disk during the opening and closing of the mouth like when we eat, talk, or chew on food. One of the biggest contributors to TMJ pain is our normal routine that adds up over time. For instance, if we have something that is affecting our jaw, we might subconsciously change our eating patterns so that we don’t have to deal with the pain. Over time this can lead to you developing bad habits which can create chronic jaw pain and you didn’t even realize it.
Your jaw might not be the only thing that is contributing to your TMJ pain though. There are plenty of other things that could be compounding the issues you face and manual physical therapy can help you with those as well. There are many things that factor into TMJ disorder that physical therapy can help adjust which include: posture, neck mobility, and balance around the neck.
Physical therapy can help relieve pain associated with this area in a variety of ways as it can also be a contributing factor to some of the TMJ pain that you’re experiencing. In the event that you have other contributing elements that are impacting your TMJ pain, there are additional remedies that a physical therapist can assist you with if they feel it’s necessary and might help you alleviate your TMJ pain.
Soft tissue mobilization techniques are focused on moving the muscles around the jaw to reduce the tenderness and painful trigger points. This method retrains your jaw to return back to its proper motions and decreases pain. This technique is beneficial in those instances where you’ve been dealing with a chronic issue and you’ve naturally developed bad habits in your efforts to avoid the pain you’re experiencing or have already had a bad habit that has caused you to develop TMJ pain.
If you are feeling like your jaw is ‘locked,’ your physical therapist will focus on the displaced disk and create structured exercises to control the movement and regain proper range of motion in the jaw. Both of these methods retrain the jaw and surrounding muscles to retract into their proper position while also relieving pain in the area.
Another great option to consider when experiencing TMJ pain is trigger point dry needling. Here’s why: trigger point dry needling targets just that – small trigger points within a muscle or joint. Trigger point dry needling can release the muscle spasm in the joint and encourage the muscle to return to a relaxed state. Releasing a muscle spasm can help pinpoint the small muscles that are contracting, causing headaches and pain as well as a misaligned jaw.
In the process of dry needling, a thin needle is inserted into the muscle causing a twitch and rapid depolarization of fibers. This process removes any compression that is putting pressure on the nerve, joint, or vascular tissue. We believe that dry needling is an extension of hands-on therapy and when used as a part of a comprehensive plan, we’ve found that our patients experience great results.
Nobody wants to live with TMJ pain, which is why our friendly therapists at Results are trained to provide an extensive examination of your face, posture, upper neck, and shoulders — as all of these areas can be affected by TMJ — to provide you with the education and injury prevention techniques for the future. After a thorough assessment, our therapists will design a personalized treatment plan for you to improve the discomfort you may feel.
When you work with a licensed physical therapist at one of our hundreds of clinics across the country or virtually, you can rest assured knowing that our physical therapists are going to work with you to identify the root causes of your TMJ pain and to design and implement a treatment program that will help you alleviate your pain and get on the pathway to a successful recovery.
At Results Physiotherapy, we’ve found that manual therapy is incredibly successful when paired with exercise and education, which is why at Results, we get results faster so that we can help you get back to living your normal life. You can count on our trusted physical therapists to deliver you with the highest quality care to get you on your road to recovery.
Schedule an Appointment Today to work with a physical therapist to come up with a comprehensive treatment program for your TMJ pain to help you get better, faster at one of our clinics or virtually!
