Tracey Kiernan
RDN: BTEC6: Cert Ed: Creator of TMJ Therapy®
With over 40 years’ experience of working with the Temporo Mandibular Joint, and TMJ Syndrome I really thought I had seen it all when it came to dealing with this debilitating condition. This included:
• 20 years as a dental professional PLUS 20 years as a degree level clinical massage specialist
• 21 years as the creator of the original TMJ Therapy® Read more here.
• Creator of the pioneering Working with Head and Neck Trauma and Intra Oral Scars
• Creator of the groundbreaking TMJSOS® Self-help Online System
• 20 years’ experience teaching to degree level all over the UK • Invited to teach my own protocol in Europe
• Sought after author for articles and publications on TMJ Syndrome and
• Sought-after speaker at international bodywork events on TMJ Therapy®
Then the pandemic came along. TMJ has always been a major problem, with up to 75% of the population experiencing some symptoms at some point in their life. (1)
Traditional treatments often do not bring relief and sufferers may spend thousands of dollars looking for an answer. In 2000 my TMJ Therapy® protocol changed all that as I showed in clinical practice how we could bring relief to many of the symptoms using myofascial body work and gentle intra oral work. My years of experience had led to me developing my TMJ Therapy® protocol by working with hundreds of real clients in clinical practice to determine exactly what works. This was groundbreaking work way back in 2000. In 2005 I created my first introductory training course for therapists. I then went on to develop my fully accredited qualification, an Advanced Diploma in TMJ Therapy®.
As the years have passed my knowledge and experience has grown as did the training. I have trained hundreds of therapists in my method across the globe as far away as Europe, USA and Australia who are helping people out of pain and restriction daily. Dentists are now describing TMJ Syndrome as the epidemic within the pandemic. Just yesterday one of our therapists went for a dental check-up, and mentioned he was now trained in TMJ Therapy®. He told me: “The dentist said that there is an epidemic of TMJD and they just send to dental surgeons…but now he has asked for my card“.
This was not news to me. I have been seeing this new epidemic building over the last 12 months but why is it happening?
- Stress: as people struggle with the trauma of dealing with life with Covid 19, money worries, job worries, living in lockdown has all taken its toll.
- People who have been hospitalised on ventilators will develop problems from TMJ including potential damage to the vocal cords.
- Sleep disturbances and disordered breathing patterns brought on by having Covid 19 and emotional stress will have an impact.
- Bruxism (tooth grinding) through all of the above
- Anxiety, family problems and relationship issues
- Changes in the bite due to changes in breathing pattern and lack of access to dentistry leading to loss of fillings crowns and even teeth.
- Poorly fitting dentures which are not being replaced during lockdowns
It is also now well accepted that imbalances in the TMJ will have a knock-on effect throughout the body increasing joint pain as far as the pelvis and beyond.
Which leads me to ask what role does the development of TMJ during Covid play in the symptoms of long Covid?
And more:
Research has shown a major upswing in TMJ Syndrome across the world.
The following study published in October 2020 draws the conclusion “The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant adverse effects on the psychoemotional status of both Israeli and Polish populations, resulting in the intensification of their bruxism and TMD symptoms and thus leading to increased orofacial pain.” (2)
Dentistry UK states: “For example, prevalence of jaw clenching and bruxism increased to 47% from its pre-pandemic level of 35% pre-pandemic. Jaw clenching in the daytime shot up from around 17% to 32%. Similarly, teeth grinding at night rose from 10% to 36%. And participants who had suffered from these symptoms before the onset of the pandemic reported a rise of about 15% in their severity.” (3)
In research published in February 2021, Asquini et al concluded “Our results revealed that people with chronic TMD were more susceptible to the distress caused by COVID-19 with a deterioration of their psychological status, worsening of CS and increased chronic facial pain severity. Although the generalisability of the results is limited, clinicians managing people with TMDs should consider these preliminary findings by providing greater support and care to these patients during the COVID-19 pandemic or other stressful events.”
Which means appropriately trained TMJ Therapists are needed now more than ever.
If you would love to learn more, or discover how YOU can train to be a TMJ Therapist read more on our accredited online blended learning courses here. The world needs you now more than ever! Want to know more? Special Offer for THINKTREE Members CLICK HERE and save
Got questions? Feel free to email me direct on blendtraining@icloud.com
OR book a 15-minute discovery call with me here and lets chat.
References:
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7601612/ Emodi-Perlman A, Eli I, Smardz J, et al. Temporomandibular Disorders and Bruxism Outbreak as a Possible Factor of Orofacial Pain Worsening during the COVID-19 Pandemic-Concomitant Research in Two Countries. J Clin Med. 2020;9(10):3250. Published 2020 Oct 12. doi:10.3390/jcm9103250
(3) https://dentistry.co.uk/2020/11/26/covid-pandemic-increased-bruxism/
(4) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0245999Asquini G, Bianchi AE, Borromeo G, Locatelli M, Falla D (2021) The impact of Covid-19-related distress on general health, oral behaviour, psychosocial features, disability and pain intensity in a cohort of Italian patients with temporomandibular disorders. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0245999. https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0245999