Can my jaw pain be treated?
YES! We have a lot of success treating patients that suffer from chronic jaw pain. The only patients that I have not seen progress with are people that have already had surgery for TMJ dysfunction. If you are considering surgery, please WAIT! Whether its me or someone else, please see a physical therapist experienced with TMJ before considering surgery.

How will I respond to the treatment?
People that we have seen for TMJ dysfunction typically see noticeable improvement after just two sessions. Complicated cases may need 6 to 8 visits spread out over two to three months. NOTE: If your main problem is grinding, read the bottom of this page. Grinding is more difficult to treat than general TMJ.

How often are appointments?
Many people have only needed 3 visits at two week intervals. If you need more than three visits the interval may be extended to three weeks.

​​What about Neck and Shoulder Pain?
We have helped a lot of people with neck, shoulder, arm, and upper back pain (with or without TMJ symptoms).
You may have heard therapists say, "the source of your pain is not always where you feel the pain." TMJ is great example of that. You may not feel any pain in your neck, but virtually everyone with TMJ issues also needs their neck to be treated.

Why is the neck important when the pain is in my jaw?
The posture of your neck effects the resting position of your jaw. When you look down at your cell phone a lot, you are forcing your jaw to protrude forward a little bit. When you lean forward to look closely at your monitor, you tilt your head back which causes your jaw to retract a little bit too much. If you do either of those things a lot, your neck is habitually FORCING your jaw into an irregular position.

What about stress?
Stress is often a significant reason why TMJ becomes difficult to overcome. SomatoEmotional Release can be the missing component for some people to fully return to normal.

What about CLENCHING and GRINDING?
NOTE: Grinding is not TMJ, and it is more difficult to treat than general TMJ.
Clenching is a milder form of grinding; both are a subconscious response to stress and anxiety. Your dental appliances usually do a good job of saving your teeth, but they do not prevent the problem.
Good News and Bad News.
The Bad News is that there is NO strictly physical/manual treatment that will prevent you from grinding - because it is MORE THAN PHYSICAL. You can't solve that problem in just a few visits with any therapist.
The Good News is that many people have been able to calm down the stress that leads to grinding by long-term treatments that address the autonomic nervous system, like Craniosacral Therapy. A treatment plan for grinding depends on how serious you are about really solving the problem.
A serious treatment plan for grinding using Craniosacral Therapy will involve 2 sessions per month for 4-6 months, and LOTS of homework. The homework will be finding some type of meditation that works for you. There are many types, and there will be some trial and error before we find the right one for you.

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