If you wake up one morning with sudden jaw pain, what is your first course of action? Do you limit eating foods that cause discomfort? Do you call up your doctor to schedule an appointment? Or do you do what most of us do and wait to see if the pain subsides on its own?
Waiting to see if the pain improves or worsens on its own may seem like the easiest option and the less scary option because you can keep from having to learn if your jaw pain is coming from a bigger issue, but it’s the option you should avoid the most. Not many people may talk about it, but jaw pain and discomfort affect more than 2.5 million Australians so if you experience jaw pain, know you aren’t alone.
The good news is that any jaw discomfort you experience can be reduced and treated with physiotherapy and other remedies. So, if you are finding it difficult to open or close your mouth, if you’re experiencing pain with certain foods, or if you suddenly hear a clicking sound when you move your jaw – it’s time to seek out help.
If you aren’t sure where to begin or have never heard about this type of pain before, then you have come to the right place. Below we take a deeper dive into this so you can eliminate any jaw discomfort and get back to living your life pain-free.
What is this jaw pain called?
The jawbone is medically referred to as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The TMJ consists of two joints that connect the jawbone to the skull. Because of this, the TMJ is the joint we use the most and when the TMJ’s structure is injured, our eating, talking, yawning, and facial expressions can all be affected and exaggerate the pain we are experiencing.
Since the TMJ impacts so many aspects of our daily lives, pain from the TMJ can be sudden, sharp, and become unbearable the longer it is left untreated. Beyond that, this pain can spread out beyond the jaw to your teeth, mouth, eyes, ears, neck, head, and shoulders, all because the TMJ connects our skull to our jawbone.
What causes this discomfort?
There are many causes of TMJ pain, but below are some of the most common causes we encounter:
- Rheumatoid arthritis,
- Osteoarthritis,
- A past jaw injury,
- Temporomandibular disc displacement,
- Dental issues,
- Bad jaw alignment,
- Chronic teeth grinding and clenching,
- And overuse of your muscle which can cause wear and tear.
Sometimes sufferers may experience more than one of these causes which trigger TMJ pain. Many of these causes can be triggered due to overactivity of the jaw muscles, incorrect jaw position and posture, and neck dysfunction.
What are the symptoms of TMJ pain?
Any new pain can be hard to identify, but if you are experiencing TMJ pain specifically, you’ll likely experience specific symptoms. The most common symptom we see is pain within the jaw or on the side of the head, directly where the jawbone is. Other symptoms may include difficulty opening your mouth fully, difficulty chewing or biting, hearing any clicking or popping noises from your jaw, teeth grinding and/or clenching, sudden headaches, occasional dizziness, upper neck pain, ear pain, and/or tinnitus.
It’s important to never self-diagnose yourself based on symptoms you may experience. You’ll want to head to a physiotherapist, or your doctor, to diagnose TMJ so they can determine, based on their expertise, whether the symptoms you are experiencing are causing this pain.
How is TMJ diagnosed?
When you head to a doctor to have your symptoms examined, if you are suffering from TMJ your doctor or physiotherapist will start with an assessment. This assessment will consist of them looking at your muscle length and the tension of your muscles, what your range of motion is for your jaw, and if there are any patterns with your TMJ movement. Based on the assessment, an x-ray, MRI, or CT scan may be ordered to look at the severity of your TMJ pain. While your doctor or physiotherapist works out a treatment plan, they may recommend for you to visit a dental or oral medicine specialist to help with temporary pain relief. This is especially true if what is causing your TMJ discomfort is regular teeth grinding, clenching, or mouth stress.
What happens if you don’t treat your TMJ?
Leaving TMJ untreated can lead to more extreme medical issues. The most common issues you may experience if you don’t treat your TMJ include:
- Chronic jaw pain
TMJ may be uncomfortable but it’s not chronic until it is left untreated. The longer you wait, the higher the likelihood that the pain will become permanent.
- Joint inflammation and damage
When you don’t treat your TMJ your joint will become more inflamed, and that inflammation will be damaging. What could have been an easy fix is now pricier and more difficult to treat.
- Frequent headaches and migraines
As we noted earlier in this article, the TMJ connects the jaw to the skull. When that joint is damaged, the entire neck, back, and head can be affected. As a result, TMJ headaches and migraines become more frequent and worse.
That’s not all. Without treatment, TMJ can also cause airway sleep problems, dental health issues, dental alignment problems, malnutrition from lack of being able to chew comfortably, a decreased quality of life, and even tinnitus.
How can your TMJ pain be treated?
Based on the assessment your doctor or physiotherapist conducted, you may have certain treatments, or a combination of treatments recommended to you. These may include:
- Hands-on manual therapy of your TMJ and accompanying muscles,
- Exercises that can help improve your TMJ range of motion and alignment over time,
- Soft tissue massaging of the area surrounding your jawbone,
- Dry needling,
- Electrotherapy,
- Relaxation techniques,
- Upper cervical spine treatment if issues related to this popped up during your assessment,
- And treatments that can improve certain triggers like improved posture, better eating habits, and stress-reducing practices.
As you await a formal treatment plan and any additional testing, you may be asked to avoid aggravators that may increase pain and discomfort such as chewing hard foods, biting your nails, excessive yawning, leaning, or putting strain on your jaw, smoking, and high-stress situations.
The best treatment you can receive comes from a physiotherapist, as this specialty focuses on improving discomfort like this. In the remainder of this article, we’ll shed light on why physiotherapy is the most sought-after treatment for TMJ plan and what physiotherapy entails.
What is physiotherapy?
While there are many treatments out there, physiotherapists specialise in using physical techniques to treat problems related to pain and movement. Physiotherapy helps in improving your movement, reducing your pain and muscle stiffness, and speeding up your overall healing time.
Some of the techniques a physiotherapist may use for treatment include a massage of the affected area, joint manipulation, muscle stretching, and at-home exercises for you to add to your daily routine.
What is the cost of physiotherapy?
The cost of this treatment varies. If you’re on Medicare, some of your visits may be covered if you visit a physiotherapist based on a doctor’s referral. If you have another health insurance, such as a private one, there is a chance your insurance plan covers physiotherapy as well. The best thing you can do is explore your plan and see what it covers before your first visit, so you know what to expect.
Can anyone receive physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy isn’t reserved for only certain patients. Anyone can seek out a physiotherapist for treatment. A physiotherapy visit doesn’t require a doctor referral, although some insurances may require you to have one for coverage. It’s also always helpful to check with a doctor first.
When you do have your first physiotherapist visit, it’s important to disclose any health problems you have currently or had previously, any past injuries you’ve experienced, and how active you are with exercise.
If you had a broken foot, you wouldn’t keep walking around on that foot. So, if you have TMJ, don’t keep walking around with the pain. Seek help out, specifically physiotherapy treatment. TMJ pain doesn’t look the same on everyone which is where a physiotherapist comes in. Physiotherapists have seen a variety of symptoms and a variety of sufferers so they are equipped to provide you with the best option for creating a customised solution that can help you specifically.
At Enrich Physio, we help all our patients live life to the fullest through a series of individualised exercises that can help them get back in sync with their bodies.
We believe that pain is a powerful message from your body so when you come in to meet with one of our physiotherapists, you’ll be working with a trained professional who will look at your entire body holistically to determine the cause of your pain, whether that is TMJ or something else. Our approach is customised to you and what sets us apart is our evidence-based approach that is focused on targeted manual therapy and rehabilitation programs that help prevent future recurrences.
If you are ready to take back your life and eliminate your TMJ pain, get in touch with Enrich Physio today.
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