🎥 Chapters
00:00 Exploring Jaw Pain and its Effects
0:22 Piezowave Shockwave Therapy is the solution for TMJ Treatment
0:58 Understanding the Causes of Jaw Pain
2:11 How Does Shockwave Therapy Work for Jaw Pain
3:05 Case Study: Shockwave Therapy for Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Masseter Muscle Tension
3:45 Low-Energy vs High- Energy vs Radial (Shockwave Therapy) for TMD
5:22 Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy for Lock Jaw
6:05 Piezowave Shockwave Therapy and Osteoarthritis
6:37 Benefits of Shockwave Therapy in Bone Regeneration
7:07 Benefits of Shockwave Therapy Compared to Placebo, Corticosteroid and Hyaluronic Acid
7:42 Side Effects of Getting Cortisone Shots According to Mayo Clinic
Jaw Pain, TMJ/TMD and Shockwave Therapy
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is a promising treatment method to help your Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD). TMD involves a range of conditions affecting the TMJ and surrounding muscles and can lead to chronic pain, limited jaw joint motion as well as popping and clicking in the joint . Dr Fields and his team help people through jaw pain relief exercises, alignment, cranial adjusting, class IV laser therapy, posture correction and shockwave therapy for the jaw joint and involved muscles. ESWT offers a non-invasive and effective approach to ease pain and restore function by targeting some of the underlying causes of TMD.
Jaw pain can be helped with Shockwave therapy
Jaw Joint (TMJ) Regeneration with Shockwave Therapy
One significant benefit of ESWT for TMD lies in its ability to promote tissue regeneration and reduce inflammation in the affected jaw joint and surrounding muscles. The Piezowave shockwave maching delivers low-energy focused shockwaves to the targeted areas. Unlike radial shockwave, focused ESWT can be dialed to the desired depth to reach your jaw joint and its surrounding muscles. Thus, your body’s natural healing processes are stimulated. This helps to repair damaged tissues and alleviate pain. As a result, shockwave therapy can lead to improved jaw function, increased range of motion, and comfort if you are suffering from TMD or jaw pain.
What About Shockwave Therapy and TMJ Arthritis?
For the same reason this can even be said for those who have TMJ arthritis. With arthritis, there is cartilage degeneration, bone spurs and subchondral sclerosis. Concurrently, ESWT addresses all three. Cartilage is regenerated, bone spurs are reduced and the undulating subchondral bone has even been shown to improve. While some talk about regenerative medicine. The Piezowave delivers!
Moreover, low energy focused shockwave therapy when used for the TMJ has zero to minimal side effects and no downtime required. Focused ESWT allows you to resume your daily activities right after treatment. Dr Fields uses ESWT in conjunction with other therapeutic modalities, such as exercises, cranial adjusting, dental interventions or oral appliances, to optimize outcomes for those with TMJ pain.
About Jaw Pain, TMJ and TMD Disorders
Jaw pain can be helped with Shockwave therapy
Temporomandibular Joint or TMJ Syndrome and Temporomandibular Disorder or TMD are conditions involving pain in the muscles of the jaw used for chewing and/or the jaw joint. Often there are popping or clicking sounds in the joint. Other common symptoms associated with TMD are toothaches, headaches, pain in the cervical spine, dizziness, ear pain and hearing difficulties. More rarely, one can have visual or balance problems.
The temporomandibular joint is where the mandible or jaw connects with the skull via the temporal bone. When approaching an analysis of this connection a multimodal approach is necessary. A poor posture with the head sitting to the left or right of the body can cause unilateral shortening of the neck muscles. Posture must, therefore, be addressed along with skull alignment.
If the skull bones are not properly aligned the positioning of the temporomandibular joints can become asymmetrical. The hinge-like joint of the mandible to the skull now no longer moves smoothly. It may just start with a slight grinding sound but no pain.
The skull attempts to center itself over the body but it may go into a painful position to do so. This shows up with a painful position of the neck bones and muscles to maintain stability. Because the temporal bones contain the vestibular canals which are responsible for balance, the lop-sided positions of the temporal bones can lead to balance problems.
TMJ and TMD Disorders have hope with Endonasal Cranial Adjusting & ESWT
TMJD syndrome with mandibular movement closeup
With Endonasal Cranial Adjusting, the entire position of the skull is addressed. The mandible has alignment with the skull and proper chewing patterns are restored. Usually it will be better, but sometimes it can seem worse, especially with bridges, crowns and fillings that are shaped for the mouth of a crooked head.
Dentists and I often work together to ensure that skull alignment and dental work are coordinated to produce a bite that encourages proper skull alignment and vice versa. Rarely dental orthopedics or even orthodontics will be required.
You can reach Dr Fields for in-person (Los Gatos and San Jose, California) or telehealth appointments here.
Dr Adam Fields is a practicing chiropractor in the Bay Area in Northern California and helps people daily in his office with TMJ problems. He uses Endonasal Cranial Adjusting, the Muncie Technique, Manual Cranial Adjusting, Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT), Class IV Laser Therapy, posture correction, muscle work, lifestyle changes and other techniques to help his people.