The Truth About TMJD (Jaw Dysfunction) Treatment: Why Most People Hit a Wall
I’ll be brutally honest with you, treating TMJD (temporomandibular joint dysfunction) is one of the most misunderstood and fragmented areas in healthcare.
If you’ve ever been bounced around from specialist to specialist, dentist, ENT, chiropractor, physiotherapist, only to end up feeling frustrated and no better off, you’re not alone.
Sometimes, referrals are helpful. A dentist might spot something structural that needs to be addressed. An ENT might catch a sinus or airway issue. But most of the time, every professional is working in isolation, treating one tiny piece of the puzzle instead of looking at the whole system.
And the truth is, your jaw doesn’t exist in isolation.
The Two Biggest Root Causes I See in TMJD
After years of working with clients, two common threads show up again and again:
Dysfunctional breathing
Digestive issues
If you don’t address these, any local jaw treatment you do, whether it’s massage, exercises, or a night guard, will likely only bring temporary relief, if at all.
Let’s break it down.
Dysfunctional breathing changes the way your entire body moves. When you overuse accessory breathing muscles (like those in the neck and chest), you create chronic tension patterns that pull on your head neck and jaw which will alter how the TMJ (jaw joint) moves. Over time, this can create problems there. Dysfunctional breathing affects your posture, your myofascial system, your nervous system regulation an much more! I can talk for days about this subject…
Digestive dysfunction is another big one. Your digestive tract is one long continuous tube, connected through fascia and neurology to your jaw, throat, diaphragm, ribcage, abdomen and beyond. If there’s restriction, inflammation, or imbalance anywhere along that system, it can literally “tug” on the jaw. Remember, the digestive tract starts in your mouth and ends all the way down at your pelvic floor. It sounds wild, but once you see it in practice, it makes perfect sense.
The Problem With How TMJD Is Taught and Treated
In physiotherapy school, we were barely taught how to treat TMJD and I’m being generous saying that. There are only a handful of post-grad courses available, and even fewer that take a whole-body approach. So it’s no surprise that so many people feel lost and unheard. They go from one provider to another, chasing relief, never realizing the real issue isn’t just where the pain is; it’s how the system is functioning as a whole.
After working with countless clients over the years at a TMJ clinic (back in Ontario), I’ve seen it all. Thousands of people walked in with TMJ dysfunction. Some with the same symptoms, others completely different. But here’s the thing: no two bodies are exactly alike, and the approach always needs to be tailored to the individual. Time and again, I’d hear, “How come nobody showed me this before?” and that’s when I knew I had to share my knowledge and expertise.
A Different Way to Approach Healing
When people work with me, whether in-person at my physiotherapy practice in Squamish, British Columbia, they start to see that TMJD isn’t just about the jaw.
It’s about how everything in the body communicates.
The breath, the gut, the nervous system, the fascia, it’s all one conversation.
And when you learn how to listen and work with that system, that’s when things finally start to shift.
If You’ve Tried Everything, You Haven’t Tried This
Most people come to me saying, “I’ve tried everything.” But often, what they’ve actually tried are isolated treatments. When they finally experience an approach that looks at the whole person, it’s like the lights turn on.
Because sometimes, the thing you’ve been missing, is seeing the whole picture.