TMJ Jaw Pain Treatment That Finally Helped After Years of Pain

It’s been ages since my last Wellness Wednesday post. I think the last one was about a year ago, when I shared about embracing good posture.

Today, I’m sharing how I finally got treatment for TMJ jaw pain after years of thinking there was probably no real solution. Me of little faith!

My Jaw Pain Story

I’d had jaw pain for I don’t even know how many years. It became one of those annoying things I just accepted and thought, “Oh well, once you’re getting older, there’s always some kind of pain to deal with.” I figured this was just my life now and secretly thanked God it wasn’t something worse. Yep, I’ll take jaw pain over other things any day.

One day, I was talking to my lovely work friend, and somehow we got onto the topic of troublesome jaws. I showed her how bad mine had become. When I opened my mouth, it would fully zig-zag before closing again.

“Look,” I said. “Open, close, open, close. Click, click, click.”

My friend was a bit horrified and politely asked me to stop before I damaged my jaw further. She then told me about a physiotherapist she was seeing who specialised in TMJ.

TMJ is a jaw issue where the joint and muscles don’t work together properly, causing clicking, pain and tightness. She said they don’t just treat the jaw itself but also look at things like muscle tension, posture and how you’re moving your jaw day to day.

When I Finally Got Help

So I went home and didn’t do anything about it because me and medical things… we’re not really friends.

But then I thought I’d stop being a baby and go deal with the issue. The pain was only getting worse, and popping Panadol and Nurofen wasn’t ideal. So, thanks to my friend’s recommendation, I booked in for TMJ jaw pain treatment at Sutherland Shire Physiotherapy and finally started my road to no pain.

TMJ Jaw Pain Treatment

The physio assessed how my jaw was moving. She checked how it opened and closed, the clicking, and that zig-zag motion I’d been showing everyone.

She worked her magic hands through the tight muscles around my jaw, temples and upper neck. I didn’t even realise how much tension I had been holding. This included the masseter muscles along my cheeks and the temporalis at my temples. She also gently released deeper muscles from inside my mouth (which I later learned are part of the jaw stabilising muscles).

She also did some gentle neck traction and guided my jaw through slow, controlled movements. This helped it start tracking more smoothly again.

Dry Needling, Exercises, and What I’m Doing Now

In the sessions since then, I’ve also had dry needling, which is similar to acupuncture. She used it in two places in my jaw to release really tight muscle tension. I’ve also been given exercises to do at home, involving gentle jaw movements and relaxation, to help retrain how everything is working.

I’ve had four sessions so far, with one more to go. After that, it’s up to me to keep doing the exercises and retraining my jaw so everything keeps moving the way it should.

TMJ Jaw Pain Treatment Actually Works!

And just like that, even after the first appointment, I already felt better. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the treatments did leave me sore for a few days afterwards, especially the neck traction—whoa! But my jaw feels so much better now, and that knot in my neck is completely gone.

I don’t know why I never fully believe treatments like this will work. It was the same when I saw a podiatrist for my sore back, which had been bothering me for ages. I only went after my husband encouraged me, and didn’t really expect it to make much difference. But the wonderful podiatrist fitted me with custom-made orthotics, and the pain just went away… poof!

Don’t Ignore Jaw Pain

If you have jaw pain that’s having a domino effect on the rest of your body, don’t ignore it like I did for so long. Go and get it sorted because TMJ physio really helps. Future you will 100 per cent thank you!