Craniomandibular Dysfunction (CMD)

The temporomandibular joint can be the reason of chronic headache or myopathia of neck and shoulders. Typical other symptoms are popping of the TMJ while eating, jawning or talking, back pain and headaches after sleep.

I can offer you a detailed one hour anamnesis and examination in my office to start with. The therapy should be interdisciplinary between me, a dentist and a physiotherapist, all specialised on CMD. If the jaw joint is strained by stress and teeth grinding or by an incorrect bite position, this can have a variety of effects. The cause of this so-called craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD or temporomandibular joint dysfunction) is an irritation of the position sensory cells in the temporomandibular joint.

These “proprioceptors” falsely report to the brain that the posture is crooked, which corrects the alleged bad posture. However, this is what leads to a misalignment and many orthopaedic problems. Many patients usually already have many years of complaints before someone makes the correct diagnosis.

Indications for CMD can be:

• Morning headaches after waking up
• Cracking of the jaw joint during certain movements
• Chronic shoulder-neck tension
• Back pain in the thoracic and lumbar spine
• Pelvic obliquity with functional leg length discrepancy. As a result, one side of the body is under greater strain due to the misalignment, which can lead to joint problems and earlier wear and tear of mainly one half of the body.

Treatment has different pillars and involves many disciplines:

1. Improving stress processing mechanisms in teeth grinding – for example through autogenic training, muscle relaxation, yoga, sports, psychotherapy or meditation.
2. Provision of a bite splint by a specialist.
3. Physiotherapy by specially trained therapists with a CMD focus.
4. Regular follow-up checks to see whether the therapies are meshing well.

If you have had musculoskeletal problems for some time that may be due to CMD, I am happy to offer you a one-hour initial consultation with physical examination.

Please contact me, I will be happy to advise you.

Yours, Nadja Mey