Have you been told to...
- Eat soft foods only.
- Use an ice pack.
- Limit the movement of your jaw.
- Avoid chewing gum.
- Reduce your stress.
- Stop clenching.
- Stretch.
- Wear a night guard.
...but you still hurt? These are not permanent solutions.
Some may reduce the pain temporarily, but they will NOT fix your jaw pain. You need more information. You need better information.
Your night-time mouth guard may be making your problem worse.
For most people, using a mouth guard does not solve your TMD problems. Mouth guards do NOT fix the tension in the tissues in and around the jaw which is the source of TMD pain.
Mouth guards protect the teeth which is important, but do not fix the pain. They may actually make the pain worse.
We'll show you how to reduce the tension so you can reduce the pain and start healing your TMD immediately.
Would you ask your dentist to fix your elbow?
Neither would we. I love my dentist and she does a great job with my teeth but the jaw is a joint. The temporomandibular joint or the TMJ.
The TMJ is surrounded by muscles and fascia just like any other joint. You trust a rehabilitation specialist to help you heal joints, muscles and fascia. That's us!
We treat clients with TMD every day.
and
We are thrilled to be able to help more people heal with our unique approach!
We have seen how TMD can affect eating, talking, laughing, and many other important activities we want or need to do in our daily lives.
We've seen how people are not getting the help they need from traditional healthcare.
We know pain medications and mouth guards will not heal your TMD.
TMD is often associated with the conditions listed here.
Not sure if you have TMD?
Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Affects People of All Ages
What makes the TMJ unique is that it is used in so many critical aspects of life such as communication, eating, intimacy, singing, facial expressions, yawning, smiling, laughing, sneezing, breathing and more.
There are so many small muscles and layers of fascia in the face, neck, and jaw area making the jaw susceptible to chronic tension. The excess tension creates not only pain, but also decreased functioning in these critical areas of life in people of all ages.
This course is recommended for adults who are able to apply the techniques to themselves.
Older children who are able to express and describe pain and are able to treat themselves may also be appropriate for applying the protocol to themselves with the supervision of a responsible adult.
We've Combined the Best Available Research with Our Extensive Experience to Create a Course YOU Can Follow Easily at Home
The Healthy TMJ Protocol
Our approach has three key areas to get you on the road to healing that will stick.
Get Educated
Learning about your TMJ is critical to empowering your role in healing your TMD.
Setting a Foundation for Healing
Ever wondered why what you have tried so far isn't working? We'll show you how to set a foundation for healing that will also prevent flare ups!
Self-Treat at Home
Use the same techniques we use with our clients on yourself.
The Course Content
- Course Introduction and FAQ (3:12)
- Welcome From Your Instructors
- Vocabulary and Important Background Information
- Introduction to the Content
- The Healthy TMJ Protocol
- An Optional Anatomy Lesson
- Treatment Options for TMD
- You Deserve Quality of Life
- Can The Healthy TMJ Protocol be Used with Children?
- Introduction Summary and Reflection
- Introduction Quiz
- Creating a Foundation for Healing (5:30)
- Creating a Healing Mindset
- Eliminating Habits of Popping and Clicking
- The Role of Posture and Mobility in a Healthy TMJ (14:31)
- Diaphragmatic Breathing is Essential to Healing
- Identifying and Minimizing Body Tension (30:43)
- Mindset and Habits Summary and Reflection
- Examining Mindset and Habits Quiz
- The Self-Treatment Plan (5:45)
- Safety Reminder
- Understanding the Myofascial Principles (11:23)
- Stretching and Moving for Self-Treatment
- Self-Myofascial Release for Self-Treatment (15:41)
- Lymphatic Drainage Self-Treatment (9:04)
- Strategically Easing Back into Challenging Foods and Activities
- Self-Treatment Summary, Reflection and Resources
- Hands-On Intervention Quiz
Meet Your Instructors
Hello! We are occupational therapists who are grounded in science and practice on the edge! We believe in always reaching for new and innovative approaches to getting the best outcomes with our clients while using the best available evidence to support our choices.
Amy is a 30+ year practitioner of occupational therapy and myofascial release. She taught in the occupational therapy program at Creighton University for 20 years and has received awards for her teaching skills. She loves teaching other health and wellness practitioners about the research behind fascia and how this knowledge can influence their practice. Working with clients who have TMD is always exciting because they can make changes very quickly.
Kaitlyn, also an occupational therapist, has expertise in anatomy as it applies to posture, movement, and OT practice. She has a passion for working with clients with TMD as she experienced debilitating TMD after a car accident in 2022. Applying the information in this course has made a huge difference in her recovery!
A Traditional Approach Through the Lens of Fascia
As therapists who are grounded in science and occupation-based theory, we take a traditional approach to occupational therapy practice, but we look through the lens of fascia science.
The fascial system is a body system we must understand in order to fully understand the human body and how it functions. The fascial system is up to ten times more innervated than our muscular system. This means our brains are ten times more interested in our fascia than our muscular system. This does NOT mean our other systems are not important. It speaks very loudly that this system is important!
Understanding the fascial system and its intricate relationship with all our other body systems is a critical layer to understanding health and function. In the literature, the fascia is often referred to as the environment of the body and all the systems within it. If your fascia is healthy, your other body systems have the environment to function well.
In all our courses, we overlay that science of fascia to provide a new and innovative look at approaching occupation therapy practice.
