J: Jaw Pain (TMJ/TMD)
Patient came to the clinic presenting with pain in her jaw. She noted that the pain was worse in the morning and that she had limited range of motion as well. She also complained of a clicking/popping sound when she tried to open her mouth up wide or ate certain foods.
Upon palpation, the patient had tightness in her temporo-mandibular joint. We asked her to open and close her mouth while we palpated and there was a noticeable clicking upon opening her jaw.
The goal of her acupuncture treatment was to calm the Gallbladder and Stomach channels.
The patient came in to the clinic once a week for acupuncture and once a week for massage for four weeks. After the eighth treatment the patient had very mild pain and tightness left in her jaw and her range of motion was about 80% better.
We recommended that the patient continue with either bi-weekly acupuncture/massage treatments or at least once a month with the combined modalities, to ensure that the pain and tightness was completely gone and did not return.