Yesterday afternoon I had my first acupuncture treatment for my TMJ/head pain, and I want to share what my experience was like, and encourage you to seek out this treatment if you are having any TMJ issues or even chronic headaches or head/neck pain.
I have my husband to thank for this post, since it was he who encouraged me to actually make an appointment to go for acupuncture. As I mentioned, I've had acupuncture in the past for other issues and found it to be enormously helpful, so he thought it would be worth a shot. I researched it a bit prior to making the appointment and found that it does show strong correlation with TMJ/TMD pain relief so I was really encouraged. It turns out that he was right. I was treated at 3:30 yesterday and I am feeling enormous relief today.
In trying to find the closest practitioner in the area, I found a chiropractic office that offered it. Turns out their chiropractors actually use it in combination with other therapies. I wasn't sure if this would be a good thing or bad, since I was looking for purely acupuncture and no adjusting, etc but it worked out great.
The chiro that saw me (Dr. Nino) isn't that well-versed in TMJ issues, but has treated many severe headache patients and knew a fair amount about that. He has been in practice for 20+ years and is very experienced, which I think is critical for me since my case is so rare and extreme. He admits that he's no expert in this, and that he is playing just a supporting role to my other doctors, and I think it's good that he is thinking along those lines. He knows that my problem will only be resolved surgically and he's going to help me manage the pain in the long-term while I wait for surgery, and likely during recovery too. He agreed that chiropractic adjustments are too aggressive for my situation, considering all the bony issues I'm having..and anyways TMJ adjustments are sort of discouraged in the chiropractic community since they may provide immediate relief, but contribute to joint damage in the long run.
So how did he help me? He used a combination of ART - active release therapy, massage and acupuncture. Active release is not that well known, but if you've had a massage, you've probably experienced it without knowing it exactly. It's where the hold onto the muscle by pressure and then either manipulate it for you or you move it yourself. It can be intense and painful.
I told him my main problem was temporalis muscle pain (see image below), where it feels like either a vice squeezing my temples or screwdrivers being pushed into them - depending on the level of pain, and it's pretty constant. Surprisingly, he found that the back of my head was causing me most of the issues, with 3 nerves underlying them that wrap up over the back of your head toward your temples and eyebrows. Putting in needles at 3 points - the hands and feet (for overall pain relief) and only 1 TMJ point (it got too intense for more at this visit), he then used active release and massage on the muscles at the back of my head, some in my jaw and a little at the temples. I'd say he spent 80% of the time on the back of my head, but said that all the muscles in my head are very tight. It was intense and pretty painful, in that sort of "so good it hurts" way.
Before I left he gave some stretches for my platisma muscle - this goes from the front of your chin all the way down the front of your neck to your clavicle (collar bone). Mine is very tight, and as a result is pulling my jaw backward, causing a lot of pain.
I really felt great after I left, despite the soreness in my head from the massaging. Last night I felt a lot of relief, and this morning I feel so much better. It really helped, and I have booked another appointment for next week.....and I bet every week thereafter.
If you are having chronic headaches, TMJ issues, head/neck pain, I would strongly urge you to try ART or acupuncture. Just visit with a practitioner to see what they think they can do, and consider it. So far I am so happy with the results.
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