San Francisco Acupuncture

Over the years I have been able to successfully treat TMJ disorders with acupuncture.  With stress levels on the upswing recently, I see more and more people with tenderness and often nerve pain in the face and neck.  Symptoms can range from  soreness of the jaw  to stabbing, burning pain caused by nerve irritation, which can become very debilitating.  You don’t realize just how much you use that joint on a daily basis until you experience chronic pain in it! think talking, eating and any other thing you do that requires you to open your mouth, which includes kissing, right??

While many of the cases  I have treated arise out of stress and night time jaw clenching due to stress, TMJ is frequently caused by dental problems, chewing gum, and excessive nail biting among other things.  In both cases, it’s just  plain painful. When the teeth are clenched inadvertently for long periods of time, it causes pain in the facial muscles and can lead to nerve irritation, which can be agonizing–sort of like someone taking red-hot meat thermometer and jabbing it into the side of your face. Not pleasant!

You can locate  your  temporomandibular joint by pressing your index finger right in front of your ear and opening your mouth. Your finger will be in between the mandible and the maxilla, or the upper and lower jaw bones.  There are 3 acupuncture points directly in front of the ear, and several other points on the face and neck. I use  different combinations of these points, along with several distal points on the body to reduce inflammation and relax the muscles in the face and neck. If there is nerve pain involved, I also use cold laser therapy, which speeds healing and reduces inflammation.

In most cases, unless there is a severe underlying structural or dental problem requiring orthodontia,  I get  relatively quick results.  And guess what?   NO DRUGS required!!  Symptoms will recur if we don’t address the root cause, which again, in many cases is STRESS.  While acupuncture is also very helpful with stress relief, finding ways to combat stress on a regular schedule is the key to long term relief.

This is where I write about my day to day experiences in my practice, and write about acupuncture in general.   Patients come to me presenting with a wide range of conditions.  By far, the most common complaints are neck pain, back pain,  joint pain and STRESS.   More often that not, stress is a factor either as the cause of a physical problem, or it occurs as the result of one.  Ever get an eye twitch that annoys you for days or weeks?   Blame stress!   In today’s hectic world, and with the economy in such a slump right now, stress will do a lot of  possibly irreversible damage to our bodies without us realizing it, if we don’t do our best to keep it in check and regularly find ways to conquer it.  Acupuncture treatments, along with exercise and a good diet can help reduce stress levels,  and prevent stress related physical problems.  Typically though, people often wait too long to come in for treatment, and we have to treat both the stress, and the physical problems.

Lifestyle changes are often required. This means  regularly scheduling time for a long run or a hot meditative bath–whatever calms you and allows you to sleep, cutting out unnecessary sugars and carbs from your diet,  eating healthy organic greens and not overworking yourself!   What better time to start than right now?