Your Jaw Clicks on One Side. But Have You Checked the Other?
When we experience jaw clicking, tension, or restricted movement, it's natural to focus on the area where we feel the symptoms. After all, if your jaw is bothering you, why would you spend time looking at your chest, ribcage, or diaphragm?
This is exactly where looking at the body as a connected system can change the way we approach jaw dysfunction aka temporomandibular jaw dysfunction (TMJD).
Your symptoms don't always tell the whole story
Recently, I shared a clinical demonstration on Instagram where I used the masseter muscle as an anchor while assessing the chest, ribcage, and diaphragm for changes in tension through the tissues.
What was interesting was the difference between the two sides. The jaw was clicking on the left, yet when I assessed the relationship between the jaw and the surrounding body tissues, I noticed a response on the right side that wasn't present on the left.
Why does this matter?
Because the area where you experience symptoms isn't necessarily the only area worth investigating.
The masseter, one of the primary muscles involved in closing the jaw, doesn't function independently of the rest of the body. The muscles and connective tissues surrounding the jaw are part of a much larger network that extends through the head, neck, chest, core, pelvis and legs!
Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds and supports muscles and other structures, helping create continuity throughout the body. These tissues don't operate as isolated parts, and the way one region moves or manages tension can influence how other regions function.
This doesn't mean that every jaw click originates somewhere else in the body, or that a restriction in the chest is automatically responsible for a jaw problem. It means that when we're trying to understand persistent TMJD, we shouldn't assume the jaw is the only place that deserves our attention.
Why I look beyond the jaw
In clinical practice, I want to understand more than where a person feels discomfort or hears a click. I want to assess how the different parts of the body are working together.
How is the ribcage moving? What role might breathing mechanics play? Is there restricted mobility through the chest or surrounding tissues? How do these findings relate to the person's jaw function and overall movement? MANY, if not most people with TMJD have dysfunction there!
These are some of the questions that can help build a more complete picture.
For some people, direct work with the jaw and surrounding areas is an important part of treatment. For others, assessing the neck, ribcage, breathing mechanics, pelvic alignment and other relevant areas may reveal additional factors worth addressing.
The goal isn't to treat everything. It's to identify what matters for that individual rather than automatically treating the area where the symptoms happen to show up.
This is what I mean when I say: address the system, not just the symptoms.
Your body is interconnected, and your approach to TMJD should take those connections into account.
Have you booked your appointment before the end of the year?
If you have extended health benefits that reset at the beginning of the year, you only have a few months left to use them.
Please don't wait until December to book your appointments. Every year, the final weeks fill up quickly, and once those spots are gone, we can't simply create more hours in the day to accommodate everyone.
If you've been meaning to book, now is the time to get ahead of the rush. Check your remaining coverage, plan your appointments, and reach out early so you have the best chance of finding a time that works for you.
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Don't leave it until the last minute. Get your appointments booked before the December rush begins.