Acupuncture for TMJ & Jaw Pain

How Chinese medicine understands TMJ & jaw pain

The jaw is crossed by several channels in Chinese medicine, including the Stomach, Gallbladder and Large Intestine channels. When Qi and Blood stop moving freely through that area, the result is pain, stiffness and tight muscles. Jaw pain is usually treated as a local obstruction. The question is what keeps causing it.

The common patterns are:

• Liver Qi stagnation. Stress, frustration and long days of holding things in show up as clenching. The jaw is tight, headaches sit at the temples, and symptoms get worse under pressure. Sleep is often light, and the neck and shoulders are tight too.
• Liver Yang rising. A more intense version of the same picture: throbbing headaches, a red face, irritability, and grinding at night.
• Qi and Blood deficiency. The muscles are not well nourished, so they tire and ache easily. The pain is dull, worse at the end of the day, and comes with fatigue.
• Wind-cold. Jaw stiffness that starts after exposure to cold wind, and feels better with warmth.

Most people have more than one of these. The diagnosis matters because it changes the points and the plan. Clenching driven by stress needs work on the stress as well as on the jaw. A tired, depleted pattern needs support, not only muscle release.

What treatment involves

Your first visit starts with questions about your jaw, your sleep, your stress, your headaches and your general health. I look at your tongue and take your pulse.

For acupuncture, needles are placed over the jaw muscles themselves as well as at other points on the body, such as the hands, feet and neck, chosen for your pattern. I treat the whole body at every treatment, not only the jaw. You lie still and rest while the needles are in, which is useful in itself when tension is part of the problem.

Depending on the diagnosis, treatment may also include moxibustion to add warmth where cold is part of the picture. If stress, sleep or fatigue are driving the clenching, Chinese herbal medicine can be added, with a formula written for your pattern.

Plan on 5–10 treatments to judge progress. Treatment at our Keswick clinic can run alongside care from your dentist or physiotherapist. You do not need to stop one to start the other.

Between visits

• Rest your jaw. Choose softer foods for a while, cut food into small pieces, and avoid gum, tough bread and chewy candy.
• Find the resting position. Lips together, teeth apart, tongue resting lightly on the roof of your mouth. Check this a few times a day, especially at your desk or while driving.
• Use warmth. A warm cloth on the jaw for 10–15 minutes can ease tight muscles.
• Watch your posture. Pushing your head forward over a screen loads the neck and jaw. Bring the screen up to eye level.
• Ask your dentist about a night guard if you grind or wake with a sore jaw.

When to see your doctor first

See a doctor or dentist before starting treatment if you have:

• A jaw that is locked open or locked closed.
• Jaw pain after a fall, blow or accident.
• Jaw pain that comes on with exertion, or with chest pain, shortness of breath or sweating. Call 911: this can be a sign of a heart problem.
• Swelling, fever, or a bad taste in your mouth, which can mean infection.
• New jaw pain when chewing after age 50, with a headache, a tender scalp or changes in your vision.
• Numbness in the face, hearing loss, or discharge from the ear.
• Unexplained weight loss or a lump in the face or neck.