The TMJ Healing Plan: Ten Steps to Relieving Headaches, Neck Pain and Jaw Disorders

I bought this as an OT treating TMD. This has great information and explanations about all aspects impacting the causes of TMJ. Even good ideas to try and begin healing yourself if you cannot get to a therapist who understands the TMJ.

This book is an excellent resource for TMJ sufferers. It is easily understandable and contains much useful information. I found the recommendations on sleep positions and orthopedic pillows particularly helpful. Despite seeing many dentists for my clenching and grinding problem, none ever inquired about my sleep position or mentioned that sleeping on one's stomach is the worst thing for TMJ. Since following some of the recommendations in this book, I have reduced my clenching and grinding at night. Now I don't even wear a mouth guard at night. This book belongs in every dentist's office. Had I read this book years ago, it would have saved me money spent on costly treatments that didn't work.

The book is good to have. I want to share my tmj treatment experience here and hoping anyone who gets here and have similar concern know he/she is not along with the discomfort and hoping my experience can help them make better treatment decision. I was a longtime night time teeth grinder; however I did not really feel any pain except occasional jaw soreness. I do have occasionally headache from working in front of computer too long, which emphasis how important exercising and good posture are. About two years ago I got an expensive $2000 splint made hoping it would save my teeth from futher grinding and clenching, and putting my jaw in a more relax position. Sadly, now I have more discomfort in my jaw and i started to experience pain in my left side molar. I was also told that I developed a open bite now where my front teeth donot touch. It has been a very frustrating experience and has cause more pain and discomfort both physically and mentally after spening over $3,000 (including all x ray, diagnosis and adjustment fees). I spent so much time analyzing whether I have done the right thing for myself and it become a stress for me to wear the splint. If I wear it, i dont' feel comfortable and thinking it was the cause of my jaw joint to move(the reason for developing the open bite), but if i don't wear, i am afraid of loosing my teeth from grinding. The TMJ specialist I am seeing wants me to get braces to correct the bite now or getting equilibration adjustment from him to correct the bite (which he would grind down my back teeth significantly where I might experience teeth sensativity to make the front teeth meet). At this point, i don't want to proceed further with any invasive treatment. I do feel a great asymmetry on my right and left side body so I am focuing on balancing my posture and muscle. meanwhile I am reinforcing myself to remember the proper way to rest my tongue and keep teeth apart, lip closed and swallow correctly. A lot of dentists and physicians do not understand or care about how our posture and daily movement can create unbalance in our body which might be one of the causes for our discomfort. Even though we might be able to find some helpfule information on the internet, this book has done a good job to put a lot of helpful information together to help us better understand our symptoms. I would recommend this book to anyone who have tmj related concern. Please anyone explore conservative options first and get a qualified independent second opinion before doing any irreversible or extremely expensive procedure. It is very frustrating to become worse than you started after spending a lot of money and I hope everyone can avoid that and get rid of the pain and discomfort.

This is the third self help TMJ book I've purchased, it is by far the most in depth and helpful of any I've read to date. Suffering from chronic jaw and neck pain for over 5 years this book quickly pointed out some habits I was doing that continued to aggravate my condition. It's a wonder (and disappointment) that none of the 4 PT's I've seen during this period had the information that's in this book. If they had, I would have saved lots of money and been on the road to recovery much sooner. I will no doubt give a copy to the one I'm seeing now! What I like about this book is that it very specifically addresses bad habits that can promote these ailments and the correlating correct habits that can prevent them. As I went thru it I very much see why the author does her one hour office evaluation prior to treatment. As I self diagnosed my bad habits through this book it was eye opening to see that changing a few things that before seemed non-related (such as sleep position) could in fact dramatically affect these conditions. Doing physical therapy for one hour a day will not correct the bad habits that may persist for the other 23! I cannot thank the author enough for her efforts to publish this book. I hope it is widely read by suffers and clinicians who are trying to help those in pain suffering from this condition.

This book represents one of the many rabbit holes I chased when battling TMJ. The author has a lot of good advice and exercises, but it didn't apply to me. In fact, at the time I purchased it, I had been seeing a PT who specialized in TMJ and echoes many of the themes in this book. I did the all exercises religiously, worked on my posture, always kept my tongue in "the spot", tried regular dry needling on my trigger points (not mentioned in this book), stress management, meditation, and despite my diligent efforts, I still had constant clenching, grinding, bracing, jaw pain, facial pain, neck pain, daily headaches, back pain, etc, etc, etc. My PT realized that she wasn't helping me and sent me to a neuromuscular dentist who specializes in TMJ treatment via splints. He made me a custom night splint, and I also wore a daytime splint for several months, which helped (along with an amazing chiropractor) put my TMJ in remission - something I never thought would be possible. No more pain and no more clenching for me! This book presents many solutions for conservative TMJ treatment, but after trying EVERYTHING (or close to it!), I found nearly life-changing treatment through a neuromuscular dentist. (Note: Not all dentists treat TMJ equally. Do research first!) This author briefly skims over the use of splints and how TMJ is connected to the nervous system (p. 17), but for a neuromuscular dentist, that's the whole focus. This books is written solely from the perspective of a physical therapist, so it leaves out other possible avenues of treatment. While it's a great documentation of how to curb TMJ, it's only from the PT point of view. My bottom line: This book is a good start for conservative approach, and it could very well help you on your pathway to relief, but know that every TMJ case is different, and there are other alternatives out there that aren't presented in this book.

I read the first few chapters and implemented her suggestions and the tight discomfort in the back of my head was 80% gone. I tried other suggestions and my tooth pain left. I'm working on new habits because it is clear this PT knows her stuff. The fact she uses a lot of Travell's 'red bibles' is validating to me as Janet Travell MD is the absolute authority on myofascial pain. I have put this TMJ book up on a large UK blog and members there have also reported amazing improvement upon using her suggestions. And to think not one dentist offered any of these constructive, non-invasive solutions. But they were so ready to sell me tooth guards and realign my bite, grind down crowns and even suggest root canals. This book is worth so much more than the cost. I am a ret. RN and feel this PT offers so much practical knowledge with great supportive data. An easy read.

I wish I had read this book 20 years go. It contains a lot of information on TMJ. Many I can use right away with great relief, such as changing my pillows and adding a lumbar support. I came away with a lot of knowledge to help myself and to know where to get the right help and how to communicate with healthcare professionals. Her advise to “measure twice and cut once” is golden. I want to respond to the most helpful negative review about seeing a neuromuscular dentist. Neuromuscular dentistry is not a discipline. It is invented by a company to sell its machines that measure and treat occlusal problems. There was a class action lawsuit by a group of dentists who bought their machines and felt they were duped. You can Google it. Per the author’s recommendation, if you have TMD you should see an Orofacial Pain Specialist who is an active member of the American Board of Orofacial Pain.

This is a great book! I have learned so much from it. I ordered it because I have TMJ disorder. I even changed the way I sleep and my pillow. It helps you to be more aware of your posture and even how you chew and exercise also. It has helped me so much. It has helped my husband with his headaches also..... I think everyone should read this book whether or not you have TMJ disorder or not.... Very informative..