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You are here: Home / Clinical Practice / Rehabilitation of the TMJ

April 26, 2011 by Dr. Brad Cole 1 Comment

Rehabilitation of the TMJ

Skull diagramThe temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can cause painful chewing, jaw clicking, ear/face pain, tooth pain, and headache. In the absence of an obviously locked jaw, the offending temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) is usually diagnosed after the painful ears, teeth, and/or sinuses have been examined and found to be fine. While there are rare causes of TMD (inflammatory arthritis, tumor, infection) the vast majority of TMD results from an imbalance of the masticatory (chewing) muscles with or without localized swelling of the TMJ. Also, the muscle imbalance can cause problems with dental occlusion and vice versa. One can quickly see that a sufficient evaluation of head/face pain, even in the presence of a seemingly tell-tail clicking jaw, should be comprehensive.

Since the majority of TMD is from functional muscle imbalance, it is unfortunate that muscular rehabilitation is often overlooked as a treatment strategy. The majority of treatment of TMJ disorder usually involves splint therapy, which uses a mouth guard, or an equilibration procedure involving dental and jaw alignment. If healthcare professionals applied the same treatment strategy to mechanical low back pain, we would still be using only bracing and NSAIDS.

Rehabilitation certainly isn’t appropriate for every case of TMD. Yet in the absence of tumor, infection, inflammatory arthritis, and a causative occlusion problem, rehabilitation is the most appropriate management strategy.

Here’s the media from my professional lecture on Rehab of TMD.

Filed Under: Clinical Practice, NMS Rehab Tagged With: #manualmed, #nmsrehab, TMD, TMJ

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  1. TMD Symptoms Indicating Rehabilitation | Cole Pain Therapy Group says:
    September 3, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    […] fact, the presence of a click, while disconcerting, is not a good indicator of whether one’s TMD rehabilitation program is […]

    Reply

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Dr. Bradford Cole Memphis Chiropractor

Bradford Cole, DC, MS

I'm a rehab physician treating functional, musculoskeletal pain with manual therapy, corrective exercise, and other rehabilitative techniques.
I practice at Cole Pain Therapy Group with a professional degree in chiropractic (DC), master's degree in sports rehab, and bachelors' degrees in life science and in business administration.
I strive to integrate the scientific principles of human functional performance to improve the life of any musculoskeletal pain sufferer.

Selective Functional Movement Assessment Certified Professional
Functional Dry Needling Level 2

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Bradford Cole, DC, MS
Cole Pain Therapy Group
2845 Summer Oaks Drive,
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