TMJ

What is TMJ?

TMJ is a group of health disorders relating to your temporomandibular joint (also called TMJ).  These disorders may be referred to as TMJDs or TMDs, to distinguish between the joint itself and the disorders.  Your TMJ is the joint that attaches your lower jaw to the rest of your skull.  You can feel your TMJ on both sides of your head, just in front of your ears.  In this article we’ll discuss the symptoms and causes of TMJDs, and how Chinese Medicine can help.

TMJD Symptoms:

If you have a TMJ disorder, you may have difficulty moving your jaw to eat or speak.  You might also feel tenderness or pain in your TMJ or in your face or neck.  These symptoms could be on one or both sides of your face.  Other common symptoms of TMJ disorders include:

TMJ
  • Locking of the jaw
  • Clicking or popping sounds 
  • Shift in jaw alignment
  • Headaches
  • Ringing in the ears 
  • Vertigo

Your symptoms may vary depending on the cause of your TMJD.

Causes of TMJD:

A variety of factors may be responsible for causing TMJ disorders.  These range from traumas to the jaw or TMJ joint, to arthritis, growth disorders, and bone structure defects from birth.  Clenching or grinding your teeth regularly could also play a role in causing TMJ disorders.  To reduce the risk of developing TMJD, try to avoid grinding your teeth.  Your dentist can help you with this.

How Can Chinese Medicine Help?

If you’re looking for a natural but effective treatment for TMJD, Chinese Medicine is a great option.  For thousands of years, Chinese Medicine doctors have observed that disease occurs when there is an underlying imbalance in the body.  This could be an imbalance between heat and cold, deficiency and excess, or Yin and Yang.  It could also be an imbalance in organ strength.

Chinese Medicine views all the organs in your body as connected.  When one organ is too weak, this can affect other parts of the body.  For example, your liver and gallbladder are two important organs that control detoxification, and maintain your tendons, joints, and nerves.  If you have a weak liver or gallbladder, you may be more likely to experience joint problems like TMJ disorders.

TMJ

Your Chinese Medicine practitioner can help treat health problems like TMJDs by addressing underlying imbalances in your body.  First, your practitioner will identify the underlying imbalance in your body by analysing your symptoms.  Then they can create a unique treatment plan for you, adjusted to your individual situation.  Treatments could involve acupuncture, acupressure, and Chinese herbal medicine. 

Conclusion:

Overall, the TMJ is the joint that attaches your jaw to your skull.  Disorders of this joint are referred to as TMJDs.  If you have a TMJD, you might experience symptoms like jaw pain and difficulty opening your mouth.  Causes of TMJDs can include injuries, grinding your teeth, and bone structure defects from birth.  Chinese Medicine is a great way to treat TMJDs naturally, as it deals with the underlying cause of your condition.

For more information about how Chinese Medicine can help you treat pain problems like TMJDs, see our website at https://balancetcm.co.nz/pain-clinic-hamilton/.

To find out more about how Traditional Chinese Medicine can help you, see our webpage at https://balancetcm.co.nz/traditional-chinese-medicine-hamilton/.

TMJ

Our Offer to You:

Fill in our online questionnaire for free – and save the $135 it would cost you to do this detailed medical history in person with a practitioner.  You can request a phone call from a practitioner after they have read your online form, or just book your initial exam for $40.  Call us on 07 846 7956 to book, or fill in the questionnaire now. 

References:

Burke, D. (2022, January 14). Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Disorders. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/tmj-disorders

Centre of Balance: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine. (n.d.). Pain Clinic. https://balancetcm.co.nz/pain-clinic-hamilton/

Phua, S. (n.d.). What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine? Centre of Balance: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine. https://balancetcm.co.nz/traditional-chinese-medicine-hamilton/

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Monica

I am originally from Hebei province in China. I hold a NZ bachelor’s degree of health and science with a major in acupuncture. I am honoured to be an acupuncturist at Centre of Balance. Helping patients to alleviate their pain brings me the greatest joy. Chinese medicine emphasises the unity of human beings and nature. During the treatment, I hope to not only relieve your pain but also help you to understand the principles behind acupuncture’s effectiveness, as well as the significant impact of diet, emotions, lifestyle habits, and living environments on disease recovery. Self-healing is an ability that our bodies are naturally endowed with.

I studied acupuncture in New Zealand and completed one and a half years of supervised clinical internship before graduating. In the early stage of my training, I mainly worked with patients experiencing neck, shoulder, and lower back pain. Under the guidance of senior clinical tutors, I gradually developed hands-on experience and confidence in treating musculoskeletal pain conditions.
As my clinical exposure expanded, I began treating a wider range of internal conditions. Alongside traditional acupuncture, I was introduced to Umbilical Acupuncture and Tungs-acupuncture Points. What interested me most about these approaches is that they often do not require needling directly at the painful area, yet can still achieve very effective results.
I was especially inspired by observing my supervisor use Umbilical Acupuncture to treat common conditions such as insomnia, menstrual irregularities, and even rheumatoid arthritis, with very positive outcomes. Another supervisor was highly skilled in Tungs-acupuncture Points and achieved excellent results in treating pain, infertility, menstrual disorders, and a variety of women’s health conditions. After completing my studies and entering clinical practice, once I observed Dr. Szenan Phua using Tungs-acupuncture points to help cancer patients relieve pain, which further strengthened my trust in this treatment method.
I later completed training in Dr. Tan Balance Acupuncture, which had a strong influence on the way I approach treatment. One of the most noticeable features of this method is how quickly patients often feel improvement, especially with pain conditions. Dr. Szenan Phua’s New Balance Acupuncture combines meridian regulation with structural adjustment and internal organ balancing, including techniques such as pulse balancing and spinal adjustment.
From my clinical experience, pain is rarely just a local issue. It often involves underlying organ weakness or structural imbalance. When these aspects are addressed together, treatment can be more thorough and longer-lasting. I also apply this approach to internal conditions, particularly in fertility and women’s health. This includes supporting natural conception, IVF preparation and embryo transfer, pregnancy support, early-pregnancy nausea, and late-pregnancy labour induction. I combine these treatments with concepts learned from a few additional fertility training, which has given me a broader and more flexible clinical perspective. This has reinforced my belief that acupuncture should be adapted to each individual rather than applied through fixed formulas.
Two other areas of study that have been very helpful in my clinical work are Tongue Diagnosis and Dr. Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture. Although tongue diagnosis is taught in my standard Chinese medicine training, further study allowed me to deepen and refine my diagnostic skills.
My first formal training was in Li’s Tongue Diagnosis, which looks not only at organ patterns, but also at how different areas of the tongue reflect the body’s structure. This system also explores personality traits and changes during pregnancy, making it both clinically useful and engaging. I later attended online lectures on Yin’s Tongue Diagnosis and studied the related materials independently. this learning has helped me make clearer and more accurate pattern differentiation, allowing my acupuncture treatments to be more targeted. It covers a wide range of conditions, including skin disorders, oncology-related presentations, mental health patterns, and joint or limb problems. In practice, tongue observation often provides valuable insight even before a patient begins describing their symptoms.
In addition to the methods above, I regularly use local bloodletting techniques, which can be very effective for improving circulation, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. I also incorporate auricular (ear) acupressure and stimulation, which I commonly use for allergies, insomnia, headaches, stress management, and various internal conditions.
In my clinical work, I value taking the time to listen carefully to each patient and to understand their overall health, lifestyle, and concerns. Based on each individual’s condition, I also provide personalised dietary guidance and lifestyle or wellness advice to support overall health and long-term wellbeing. I commonly support patients with musculoskeletal pain, such as neck, shoulder, knee, and back pain, as well as stress-related conditions, sleep issues, migraines, digestive concerns, and women’s health and fertility-related conditions.