Physical Therapy

I found out from my wonderful dentist that I would have to try physical therapy for my jaw. I have had TMJ since I was 15, but it hasn't started bothering me till recently. I have been having awful headaches and my neck is always tight. I couldn't tell if the headaches and neck aches were from the TMJ or not. I talked to my dentist about it and he said that if PT doesn't work I would have to wear a splint and then possibly consider jaw surgery. It's a good thing I work for the best PT in town! He diagnosed me with TMJ and Cervicalgia (neck pain). We found out that my neck range of motion (ROM) was severely limited in my neck and jaw, but we still aren't sure if they are even connected. I have only had 4 appointments and I can already feel a great difference in my face. I can now open my mouth 30mm without pain (on my first day it was only 16mm) and have even yawned a few times without hearing a pop. Of course some days are worse than others, but I am very confident that we are on the road to success. Now our biggest concern is my neck pain. It doesn't seem to be letting up at all. In fact I am in constant pain from it. Even the massaging doesn't help for very long. I still have 8 more appointments left so we will see how everything goes. Wish me luck!