If you&;ve got headaches or neck pain that won&;t seem to go away even with treatment? Did you know your jaw could be the cause?.Temporalis.The Temporalis is second muscle of mastication – or chewing. This muscle is responsible for closing the jaw so to help it release it we&;re going to slowly open. Simple as pie. Try it yourself on both sides. To start:.Clench your teeth with your hands on the side of your head you&;ll feel the muscle pop outGently perform some circular massagePin under your hand and stretch by opening your mouth slowly(not to max) Hold at end of opening for a brief pauseRinse and repeat 8-10x. series

posted on April 12, 2017 by | No comments

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If you&;ve got headaches or neck pain that won&;t seem to go away even with treatment? Did you know your jaw could be the cause?.Temporalis. .The Temporalis is another muscle of mastication – or chewing. This muscle is responsible for assisting in closing the jaw along with the masseter. If you grind your teeth at night (bruxism) this muscle and the masseter will definitely have a fun triggerpoint or knots in them. To muscle test it:.Put your fingers in front of your ear and up on your hair and you&;ll feel the muscle pop out when you clench your teethIf you have pain directly under your hand or find any harder points it&;s your Temporalis. . Next up is the self release for it. series

posted on April 12, 2017 by | No comments

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If you&;ve got headaches or neck pain that won&;t seem to go away even with treatment? Did you know your jaw could be the cause?.Massseeetterrrr. .The Masseter is one of the muscles of mastication – or chewing. This muscle is responsible for closing the jaw so to help it release it we&;re going to slowly open. Simple as pie. Try it yourself on both sides. To start:.Clench your teeth with your hands on your cheeks you&;ll feel the muscle pop outGently perform some circular massagePin under your hand and stretch by opening your mouth slowly(not to max) Hold at end of opening for a brief pauseRinse and repeat 8-10x. series

posted on April 11, 2017 by | No comments

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If you&;ve got headaches or neck pain that won&;t seem to go away even with treatment? Did you know your jaw could be the cause?.This is your masseter muscle. Primary closer of the mouth. Massseeetterrrr. .The Masseter is one of the muscles of mastication – or chewing. This muscle is responsible for closing the jaw so it is constantly used and often a contributing part to any TMD or jaw issues. If there are imbalances between sides. This guy will definitely be part of the guilty party. To muscle test it:.Clench your teeth with your hands on your cheeks you&;ll feel the muscle pop out. If you have pain directly under your hand. It&;s this puppy. . Next up is the self release video for it. series

posted on April 10, 2017 by | No comments

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TMJ Self screen – DeviationThis is a test of your temporomandibular joint (TMJ) / jaw. Is there any pain? If your jaw moves to one side? Is it on opening? Is it on closing? Is it both? Is there a click? Does your jaw move to one side then back? As you can see, there are a lot of questions to ask and get the answers to. As a disclaimer this is just a screen you can use to assess if you may potentially have a Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). The easiest thing we can focus on here is your function. When you attempted the previous self screen – Could you open 3 knuckle widths? – normal More? – HYPERmobile less? HYPOmobileNow remember your jaw has two temporomandibular joints. If one side has MORE range than the other. your jaw will shift to a side. Sometimes too much range / or too little range can be caused issues affecting the articular disc. If you have a click chances are you may have what&;s known as a disc displacement. The next question is which way is the disc displacing and what can we do about it. But first, ask yourselves these questions6. What movements cause your jaw pain? does it change over time?7. Do you have pain during chewing? swallowing? biting? yawning? speaking?8. Do you habitually chew gum? eat lots of chewy candies, hard candies, corn nuts? Do you continually move your mouth?9. Do you usually chew on just one side?10. Does anybody tell you that you grind your teeth at night?Your answers to these questions should get you thinking about your daily habits and what types of things may be causing your TMD. It is much better to determine and treat the root cause of the problem. But for now the next videos in this series will show you some basic stretches and exercises for your TMJ. series

posted on April 7, 2017 by | No comments

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TMJ Self screen – Jaw opening. This is a test of your temporomandibular joint (TMJ) / jaw. It is a basic function of your jaw in order to allow you it to function! You need to be able to do this to eat. Try the screen. Answer the following questions. I&;ll be adding more and more questions to this series that will prompt some thought if you have jaw issues (whether you know it or not!) 1. Could you open it wide enough?2. Was there a click or sound? If so, on opening or closing? or both3. Did it hurt? If so, on opening or closing?4. Did it lock or get stuck? 5. If you have any pain, tightness or discomfort – which side is it?Answer these questions as they can indicate a TMJ dysfunction or TMD. Some other symptoms to note during your self scree of TMD include: HeadacheWorn teeth (due to the teeth not resting on each other properly or whats known as malocclusion)Painful muscles in the cheek, temple, or neckClicking or poppingEarachesPain behind the eyesRinging in the earsToothache What we&;re trying to begin to do is pain a diagnostic picture. As a clinician these are the structures I will be checking and keeping in mind with your answers: Musculature of the Neck, face, and jawCartilaginous disk Ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels surrounding the joint, mouth, and teethDoes this sound like a lot? Well it is! but we&;ll slowly delve further into the rabbit hole. series

posted on April 7, 2017 by | No comments

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The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or jaw joint is a two hinged joint that allows for complex movements to allow you to eat, talk, yawn and do things with your mouth. Swipe so see what the TMJ is comprised of: Muscles of chewingJoint capsuleArticular DiscTissue behind the discThese guys have to work together and work well to ensure smooooth talking. Your body is a great compensator so if things don&;t change, your body will adapt and can become a dysfunction or disorders. Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) can cause a lot of pain and lifestyle changes. These are a lot more common than you would realize. Ask yourself the following and you may have some TMD or the start of one. Look in the mirror, when you open your mouth and close it does it open straight or does it move to one side?Do you chew only on one side?Does your jaw click, pop or make sounds?Do you grind your teeth at night?Do you get a lot of headaches and nothing seems to help?A good clinical health history and a proper TMJ assessment will help you with this. Follow me and stay posted for more.

posted on April 5, 2017 by | No comments

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This is a basic wrist flexion stretch which will help build the foundation of mobility required in the wrists for things such as on the rings. This stretches out the extensor group of muscles and tendons located on the outside and backhand side of your arm. The tendons responsible for extension of your fingers and wrist originate at a common origin known as the lateral epicondyle of your arm near the elbow. This is the overused muscle group in or lateral epicondylitis! Here I&;m performing 5s hold with pulses and slowly changing the angles at which I press at to target different areas of the wrist. I do this by rotating my elbows slightly further or less. You can also try and perform 3-5 reps of 15s isometric contractions and relax periods of 30s. (Once again you want to try and spend a minimal total of 90s in the stretch)When performing a static isometric stretch you assume the position of the stretch to target the muscles of the forearm, then you tense the muscle against the floor (without actually moving!) Hold that muscular tension for 15s, then relax for about 30s. Rinse and repeat until your desired length! Happy stretching. series

posted on March 2, 2017 by | No comments

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This is a basic wrist extension stretch which will help build the foundation of mobility required in the wrists for things such as . This stretches out the flexor group of muscles and tendons on the palm side of your arm. I like doing 5s hold with pulses and slowly changing the angles at which I press at to target different areas of the wrist. I do this by rotating my elbows slightly further or less and with most of my stretching I try and perform 20 reps of 5s pulses or a minimal total of 90s. This is a type of stretching that encorporates what&;s known as proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching or PNF. It enhances both active and passive range of motion in order to improve motor performance and aid rehabilitation. The specific type of PNF I am using here is a &;Contract Relax&; technique. practor series

posted on February 4, 2017 by | No comments

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The wrist is a complex joint that bridges the forearm to the hand – a collection bones from the forearm (radius, ulna), 8 carpal bones, and 5 metacarpal bones, an articular disc (Triangular fibrocartilage complex or TFCC) and a plethora of ligaments. Then throw in muscles that all have very specific attachment points. Let&;s not forget about nerves arteries and veins. As you can see the wrist is a quite complicated. In the following weeks I will be posting 5 stretches and mobility exercises but if you have an ongoing issue this is not to replace a wrist assessment by a health professional! Work smart. Loose ligaments need muscular strengthening, tight muscles need stretching, weak muscles need strengthening, focus on each exercise to maximize your motor control and don&;t just go through the motions. practor series

posted on December 29, 2016 by | No comments

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