Yes, physiotherapy is a highly effective, non-invasive treatment for TMJ pain. It is often recommended as a first-line approach to reduce pain, improve jaw mobility, and restore normal function. 
How Physiotherapy Helps
Physiotherapists address both the symptoms and the underlying causes of TMJ dysfunction (TMD) through several specialized methods: 

• Manual Therapy: Hands-on techniques to release muscle tension, improve joint alignment, and increase blood flow.
• Targeted Exercises: Customized stretching and strengthening programs to improve jaw coordination and range of motion.
• Posture Correction: Addressing issues like "forward head posture," which can place significant strain on the jaw joints.
• Pain Relief Modalities: Use of tools like ultrasound, heat/ice therapy, or TENS to reduce inflammation and promote healing.
• Habit Modification: Education on lifestyle changes, such as avoiding jaw clenching, nail-biting, or chewing gum. 

Here is how we are keeping you safe at BC-ICE and HeadWorks Physiotherapy:
 

1. Contactless register of your temperature upon arrival
2. COVID waiver to ascertain that patients have not been away from the province in the last 14 days, and have not been in contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID, or has any symptoms of COVID, in the last 14 days
3. Limited number of people in the waiting area – maximum of 3 at any time
4. Plastic screen separating reception area from waiting area
5. Staff and therapists wear medical masks at all times
6. All visitors and patients are required to wear medical masks
7. Therapists wear face shield and gloves when attending to patients
8. Gloves are discarded after every patient use, and therapists adhere to strict hand washing or sanitizing in between patients
9. Treatment beds are sprayed with disinfectant and wiped down after every patient use
10. All pillows are plastic wrapped and sprayed with disinfectant and wiped down after every patient use
11. All pillow cases and linens are washed after every patient use
12. All equipment and therapy machines are sprayed with disinfectant and wiped down after every patient use
13. Office after hours cleaners clean the clinic daily, and are required to wear masks and gloves while cleaning
    

Here is the rest of it

     6. Sleeping positions:

• Do not sleep on your front. This position places a considerable amount of pressure upon your jaw. Try propping pillows beside/behind/in front of you to help prevent you from rolling onto your front
• Make sure you are not resting your jaw on a hand or arm while sleeping. This also places considerable pressure on your jaw

 
     7. Use moist heat or ice:
Moist heat:

• Place a warm damp towel along the affected side of your face
• Place a hot water bottle on top of the damp towel
• Leave for 15-20 minutes

Ice:

• Wrap a gel pack or a bag of frozen peas in a paper towel or thin cloth and place it on the affected side of your face for 15-20 minutes

 
Generally, heat is used in non-acute conditions for pain relief and muscle relaxation, and ice is used in acute (recent with severe pain and swelling) injury to reduce pain and swelling. Ice has an analgesic (numbing) effect.
 
     8. General care:

• Do not lean on your chin or jaw
• Do not hold a telephone between your ear and shoulder
• Get adequate sleep
• Maintain proper nutrition
• Avoid taking on additional stressful commitments which may contribute or affect your present problem adversely, or which would hinder your ability to manage your jaw problem
• Please advise your therapist of anything at all which you think may be contributing to your jaw dysfunction. This may have easily been overlooked in this guide as there is an infinite number of factors which can contribute to jaw dysfunction.

It's hard to believe that it's been more than a year since I've written in here.

I spent the rest of 2016 and the first third of 2017 preparing for my certification exam which was held in May 2017 at the beginning of the AAOP Annual Scientific Meeting. This time the meeting was in Scottsdale, Arizona.

A few things about Scottsdale, Arizona:

1. There is no decent Chinese Restaurant (There is no Chinese Restaurant!)
2. It is hot in the morning (38 degrees C)
3. It is hot during the day (41 degrees C)
4. It cools down at night (38 degrees C) :)
   
5. Bring a sweater if you are stuck in a conference hall
6. Cacti grow by the roadsides like Rhododendrons do here
7. Roadrunners really exist! (Beep beep!!)
8. Restaurants have water misters that help to cool you down if you sit outside
9. It is a slower pace than Vancouver ;)
10. I am not complaining

It was a three hour exam and they said it would be four to eight weeks before we get our results. Sure enough, it was eight weeks later that I go the congratulatory email...I'd spent the past eight weeks in sympathetic overdrive...heart pounding, hyperventilating and sweaty palms whenever anybody mentioned the word "exam" or "test", whenever I thought about it, and just...whenever.

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the time recovering, and before I knew it, it's November, with just over a month to go before Christmas...must have been having fun.

Brag alert: So all that work got me a specialist designation called "Certified Cervical and Temporomandibular Therapist" (CCTT for short). This is certification by the Physical Therapy Board of Craniofacial and Cervical Therapeutics (PTBCCT). Currently, there are eight CCTTs in Canada, three of whom (myself included) are in Vancouver, BC.

I am hoping to squeeze in one more write-up in December, so be sure to watch this page. Not sure what it will be about yet, maybe some basic TMD stuff.

Until then, take care!