The jaw is a unique joint in our body. It consists of the upper jawbone, called the maxilla, fixed to the bones of the skull, and the lower jawbone, called the mandible. The mandible connects to the maxilla with the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). This lower mandible is supported by many strong facial muscles, including the masseter, temporalis, and medial and lateral pterygoids. These muscles control the movement of the jaw and allow us to perform everyday functions like speaking, eating, and drinking.
Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) include over 30 different dysfunctions of the jaw joint. The three main groups of TMDs include disorders of the joints, disorders of the jaw muscles, and TMD-related headaches. Temporomandibular joint disorder (classically referred to as TMJ) refers to disorders of the TMJ joint itself.
TMJ disorders are pervasive, with an estimated 5-12% of the US population being affected. Women are disproportionately impacted as well, particularly in the 20-40 age group. Common symptoms of TMJ include: jaw pain, headaches, clicking and popping of the TMJ joint, teeth grinding, neck pain, tinnitus, and problems chewing. TMJ disorder symptoms can resolve quickly or become a chronic issue.
A variety of different factors can contribute to the development of TMJ disorders. Sometimes physical traumas and accidents can misalign the mandible bone and cause dysfunction in the joint. Dental issues like grinding teeth (bruxism), a misaligned bite, or dental cavities can cause TMJ disorder symptoms to develop. Emotional stress and anxiety can lead to jaw clenching and cause TMJ pain. Sometimes, genetic and congenital malformations can also play a part.
Doctors of Chiropractic are uniquely positioned to care for TMJ disorders because of their extensive knowledge of the body’s joints and their detailed training on how to fix joint misalignments. Your chiropractor will have to determine the source of the TMJ symptoms and determine the best approach to correct the causative issue.
$99 New Patient Special
We sit knee-to-knee for a detailed consultation on your primary concern to get an overall understanding of your health. We’ll assess your neurology, posture, and biomechanics during our thorough spinal discovery examination. X-rays may be taken to further identify the cause of your health issue.
How Our Care Plan Works
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Even in the worst of circumstances, it helps patients to know exactly what is going on. Through one-on-one doctor patient reports and group education lectures we empower our patients with the knowledge and understanding of their specific problem.
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Your health is your responsibility. Our job is to share our findings with you and lead and encourage you in the pathway to health. It’s your choice to decide how you want to participate in your health care and how you want to show up in life.
How We Treat TMJ Pain In Midtown East, NY
Comprehensive Consultation and Exam
When you come into Rowe Chiropractic Offices, the chiropractors will perform a thorough consultation and examination to determine exactly what health concerns you have and what goals you’d like to achieve under our care. The doctors will perform various exams, including range of motion, neurological assessments, visual and biomechanical observations, X-ray studies, and any other exams they feel necessary to come to an accurate diagnosis.
It is of the utmost importance to get to the root cause of the problem because there can be many different causes of TMJ. To resolve the issue, the precise factor contributing to the TMJ disorder must be identified.
Specific Chiropractic Care in Midtown East, NY
Chiropractors are the only professionals who are trained to detect and correct subluxations. Subluxations are misalignments of the bones or your posture that affect the functioning of your nervous system. Your nervous system controls all of the functions and sensations of the body. So, subluxations of the spine or other joints of the body can cause pain, numbness, tingling, or visceral symptoms like headaches and muscle tension.
Once the chiropractors at Rowe Chiropractic Offices have determined the root cause of your TMJ disorder, they can figure out the best course of action to a solution. Sometimes, TMJ symptoms are caused by a misalignment of the jaw joint itself, and sometimes the symptoms stem deeper from the neck nerves. A chiropractor can help realign the TMJ joint or the neck vertebra when necessary. The reason that the neck nerves can play such a significant role in TMJ is that it’s the neck nerves that control that area of the face and TMJ joint.
Custom Therapeutic Exercise Plan
The TMJ joint and positioning rely significantly on the muscles of the face and jaw for proper alignment and function. The mandible is suspended in the TMJ joint connecting to the maxilla, and that suspension is supported and controlled by the attached muscles. Therefore, it is important for the jaw muscles to be balanced and functioning properly. Additionally, it is vitally important that the neck structure is strong and healthy, and the muscular and ligamentous support of connecting structures supports this.
At Rowe Chiropractic Offices, we create an individualized exercise routine tailored to your postural subluxation problems. Postural subluxation patterns describe an individual’s unique pattern of posture misalignment. The posture is a connected system, and imbalances in the posture result in imbalances of the muscles, ligaments, and bony structures. These imbalances can cause TMJ disorder pain. By performing exercises on the TMJ joint itself or on the areas of the spine that support the TMJ, we can rebalance the system and restore proper functioning of the TMJ joint.
Common Symptoms of TMJ Dysfunction in Midtown East, NY
Jaw Popping and Clicking
The sound of the jaw clicking is an obvious indicator of biomechanical issues in the TMJ joint. This clicking noise (called “crepitation”) can come from misalignment of the TMJ joint, arthritis, muscle imbalances, teeth grinding, and some less common issues like infection.
We can hear clicking in the TMJ joint when the joint is being used, and often at the extremes of the range of motion.Sometimes, you may simply hear the click, and sometimes, you may feel the movement of the jaw that is causing the clicking. The best relief for jaw clicking is to reposition the jawbone in the joint so that the movement is smooth and healthy again.
Jaw Locking
A serious consequence of TMJ disorders can be the locking of the jaw. When lockjaw happens, it can affect your ability to open the mouth fully and cause stiffness and pain in the jaw muscles. Sometimes people will have difficulty swallowing or speaking.
Your chiropractor can help relieve your lockjaw by assessing the TMJ and neck joints to determine if biomechanical and neurological stress is causing the symptoms. If the chiropractor finds that a subluxation is contributing to the lockjaw symptoms, they can perform specific adjustments to help relax the jaw.
Jaw Clenching
Jaw clenching or teeth grinding (bruxism) is the involuntary clenching or grinding of the jaw, especially during sleep. Habitual jaw clenching can cause dental issues, jaw pain, and headaches. Some lifestyle factors can make jaw clenching worse, including stress and anxiety, sleep disorders, medications, and excessive caffeine.
The best way to fix an individual’s jaw clenching is to find the reason for it. That may include a combination of lifestyle changes and strategies to reduce stress, but most importantly, reducing stress to the nervous system. The stress on the nervous system can be addressed by fixing the vertebral and postural subluxations in the body. Your chiropractor is a professional trained to detect and correct these bony and postural issues causing nerve irritation.
Jaw Pain
Pain is your body’s indicator that there is a problem. When enough inflammatory factors are present, the pain signals in the body will be activated. Pain in the jaw can come from a few different avenues, sometimes from tension and dysfunction in the jaw muscles or from misalignment of the jaw joint. Stress, poor posture, and teeth grinding are all examples of lifestyle factors that can cause TMJ pain.
Sometimes TMJ pain can be associated with other types of pain in the body. Very commonly, TMJ pain causes headaches or other facial pain. These symptoms can be due to stress and dysregulation of the nerves and muscles that control the head and the face.. Some people with TMJ pain will feel discomfort in areas of their spine, like their neck or upper back, which indicates different contributing postural problems.
The best course of action to relieve TMJ joint pain is to remove the stress in the body that is aggravating the TMJ joint. Once the chiropractic doctor evaluates you, they will have a better sense of the causative factors and devise a strategy to address them. This strategy often includes chiropractic adjustments to realign the jaw and/or the neck vertebrae, as well as a system of postural corrective exercises, orthotic use, and in-office traction therapies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can chiropractic in Midtown East, NY help with TMJ dysfunction?
Yes, the chiropractors at Rowe Chiropractic Offices can help with TMJ issues. They will assess your situation and determine the source of the TMJ issues. Once determined, they will devise the best course of action to correct the cause.
How do you permanently fix TMJ dysfunction?
Permanently fixing a TMJ issue is often a multifactorial approach, but can be very effective. All contributing factors must be addressed to permanently solve a TMJ issue. We realign the jawbone or nerve irritation causing the pain, utilize specific postural exercise rehabilitation, and use of in and out-of-office traction.
What causes TMJ to flare up?
TMJ symptoms flare up when there is enough inflammation from dysfunction and injury that the body sends warning signals.
Can chiropractors crack jaws?
Chiropractors can certainly adjust jaws. Sometimes, that adjustment results in an audible sound, and sometimes, the work is very gentle and targeted.
What happens if TMJ dysfunction is left untreated?
If TMJ is left untreated, it can cause long-term effects and arthritic conditions because of the mechanical stress to the joint.
Can you fix TMJ dysfunction without surgery?
Yes, TMJ can be corrected without surgery. Many noninvasive approaches can be very effective in addressing TMJ symptoms.
Can TMJ dysfunction cause neurological problems?
Yes, TMJ can cause neurological problems and symptoms. It can result in numbness and tingling, nerve dysfunction, and muscle twitching.
$99 New Patient Special
We sit knee-to-knee for a detailed consultation on your primary concern to get an overall understanding of your health. We’ll assess your neurology, posture, and biomechanics during our thorough spinal discovery examination. X-rays may be taken to further identify the cause of your health issue.
