Massage for TMJ Syndrome
Easing TMJ Symptoms

TMJ syndrome is a disorder that affects the temporomandibular joint or jaw. Massage therapy can be used to treat TMJ disorder. Dysfunction in this joint can be quite painful. Besides pain in the jaw, TMJ symptoms may include pain in the neck, shoulders, head and face. Women suffer from this disorder more than men. Most of the time TMJ dysfunction can be treated without surgery.

If you put your fingers at the front of your ears and open and close your mouth you can feel your temporomandibular joints at work. These joints do both a hinging motion and move side to side.

When these joints are under stress or damaged you feel a variety of TMJ symptoms. They include:

• pain in the joint
• pain in the face, neck and shoulder
• clicking or popping sounds when you open and close your jaw
• ear problems such as ringing in the ears or hearing loss
• your jaw becomes locked in one position usual when opening it wide
• muscle spasms
• headaches
• dizziness

Someone with TMJ disorder may have one or more of these symptoms.

TMJ symptoms can stem from several problems or a combination of problems such as:

• trauma
• disease
• wear and tear
• habits

Trauma

There are two categories of trauma that can lead to TMJ dysfunction. The first category is microtrauma.

Microtrauma is caused internally. These are usually bad habits that you need to break. Things like grinding your teeth or constantly clenching your teeth qualify as microtrauma. These bad habits overwork the jaw muscles and can cause misalignment of the teeth.

The other type of trauma is macrotrauma. Macrotrauma is an external event. It occurs when you take a blow. This can knock your jaw out of alignment suddenly.

Disease

Certain diseases can add to your risk of getting TMJ syndrome. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that attacks joint tissue. When this disease attacks the jaw the joint swells and the fluid in the joint is no longer sufficient to lubricate it. This causes pain in the joint.

Osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint is a result of wear and tear. As we age we loose some of the lubrication in our joints. This results in pain when the joint is moved.

The trigger points and pain associated with fibromyalgia can attack the face and jaw region. Most people who have fibromyalgia also suffer from TMJ syndrome.

Massage

Massaging the muscles in your jaw, neck shoulders and face can relieve the pain caused by TMJ. There are usually many trigger points in these areas that contribute to your TMJ pain. Neuromuscular therapy treats those trigger points causing the painful muscles to relax.

CranioSacral therapy can also help treat TMJ disorder. CranioSacral therapists do a series of releases on the temporomandibular joint itself. These releases help create more space in the joint and allow for freer movement.

You can also use self-massage techniques to massage your neck, head, face and shoulders.

Recently, I read an ebook called TMJ No More. It contains a lot of useful information to help TMJ sufferers. You can read my review of it here.