TMJ Jaw Pain

Individuals with Tempromandibular disorder (TMD) complain of pain in the jaw with chewing, talking or yawning. People often report grinding of the teeth, clinching, headaches, or sometimes throat pain.

OPTC Patient Care Journey

Your personal OPTC physical therapist will perform a thorough evaluation.  Upon completion of your evaluation your physical therapist will design an exercise program tailored to your specific needs and goals.

A large portion of your treatment will also include manual massage, mobilization, and other hands on techniques.  Our goal is to work with you and your pain and return you to an active lifestyle.  

The following are examples of what might be included in your individualized physical therapy treatment program : Mulligan/ Maitland joint mobilizations, Mackenzie exercises based on extension or flexion, soft tissue mobilization with Graston techniques, ASTYM, modalities for comfort (cold/hot pack, e-stim, ultrasound), dry needling, and much more!

During a Physical Therapy session, one of our clinicians usually finds muscular tightness in the postural muscle of the neck and jaw muscle that help chewing. In order to decrease pain we educate patients on sitting posture, neck stretching, neck/upper extremity strengthening and use manual therapy such as soft tissue massage to decrease muscular tightness.