TMJ or Temporomandibular joint is bilaterally located on the side of the human head.
TMJ and Movement
Upper Compartment
- Protrusion
- Retrusion
Lower Compartment
- Lower the Jaw
- Raise the Jaw
Lateral Deviation
Said so:
- the opening is the combination of Protrusion plus Lowering the Jaw
- closing the mouth is Retrusion plus Raising the Jaw.
TMJ and Pain
When TMJ is in pain, we can find it hard to talk, eat and sometimes even rest, as the pain can be pretty strong.
Moving forward, not everyone knows that deep under TMJ we have what we call Parotid Gland.
The Parotid Gland is a salivary gland, and if gets infected, it can swallow up and be quite painful.
What can happen at the Parotid Gland is an accumulation of calcium in its duct, and saliva can’t be expelled.
Even though viruses or bacteria can also be responsible for TMJ infection.
What also most people are not aware of is that in the Parotid Gland, there are lymph nodes.
TMJ and MLD.
The fact that the gland can be swollen is an indication that fluid is stuck in it.
MLD, thanks to the boosting of the lymphatic system, which is responsible for reducing swelling in the body, can be the perfect technique to reduce the swelling and so restore the functionality of TMJ.
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The Parotid Gland lymph nodes unload their Lymph Obligatory Load into the cervical nodes.
So as per usual, at the start of the MLD treatment, we will work along the upper neck, medial neck and then the terminal (just between the clavicle and the upper trap).
In addition, what makes a difference with MLD is that is a pain-free technique. That would allow the client suffering from TMJ pain to receive a treatment that would not aggravate the pain feeling and would end up giving a deep relaxation too.
Other work techniques can be used, such as Myotherapy and Remedial Massage trigger point, or dry needling for Myotherapy treatment.
The Remedial Massage TMJ treatment is a valuable technique but would not resolve the problem at the root cause.
In conclusion, MLD is probably the best manual, not invasive treatment that can be done for TMJ.
Talk to your dentist about this option, and if they are not aware of what MLD is, don’t be surprised, it is, yes an excellent technique, but it is still not well known by many practitioners, dentist included.