TMJD Treatment

What are TMJDs?

TMJD stands for temporomandibular joint disorder.  The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the joint that connects your jaw to the rest of your skull.  If you have a TMJD, you may have pain in your jaw or face, or you might find it hard to open your mouth.  In this article we’ll discuss TMJD treatment options, including how Chinese Medicine can help you.

TMJD Treatment:

TMJD Treatment: Home Remedies

Your treatment options for TMJDs may vary depending on the cause of your condition.  In most cases, TMJDs can be treated through home remedies.  Things you can do to treat TMJDs at home include:

TMJD Treatment
  • Reduce swelling by applying ice
  • Eat soft foods
  • Avoid excessive chewing (chewing gum, or eating overly chewy foods)
  • Improve jaw movement through jaw exercises
  • Manage stress through breathing and meditation exercises

TMJD Treatment: Medications

If your symptoms don’t get better with these home remedies, your doctor may recommend medications. However, medications often come with the risk of side effects.  That means it’s important to do some research before taking medications, as they can sometimes end up making your health worse.

TMJD Treatment: Therapy

You may also like to try some therapies to help recover from a TMJ disorder.  This could mean exercises, stretches, heat or cooling therapies, and stress management therapies.

TMJD Treatment: Surgery

In rare cases, surgery may be an option for TMJD treatment.  However, surgery does come with the risk of going wrong, and could potentially worsen your condition.

How Can Chinese Medicine Help?

In Chinese Medicine, the organs within our bodies are seen as interconnected.  If one organ is out of balance with the other organs, this can affect your health and cause unwanted symptoms.  For example, the liver and gallbladder are two important organs in your body.  They control the detoxification process and nervous system, as well as maintaining the health of your tendons and joints.  But if your gallbladder or liver is too weak or out of balance with your other organs, you may get joint problems like TMJDs.

TMJD Treatment

Your Chinese Medicine practitioner cares about your long-term health.  This means they want to address the root cause of your condition, rather than suppressing your symptoms temporarily.  To treat TMJD symptoms, your practitioner will need to address any underlying health problems like organ imbalances.  Your practitioner can find out what your main underlying health problems are by analysing your symptoms and pulse.

At Centre of Balance, we can create a unique treatment plan for you based on your individual health situation.  This could include treatments like acupuncture and herbal medicine.  Your practitioner can use these methods to address specific health issues, like strengthening your liver or gallbladder.  This can help to bring your body back into a healthy condition.  When your body is functioning healthily, then it will be able to heal symptoms like TMJDs.

For more information about how Chinese Medicine can help you treat pain problems like TMJDs, click here.

Conclusion:

TMJDs are disorders of the temporomandibular joint.  In most cases you can treat TMJDs through home remedies like applying ice, eating soft foods, and doing jaw exercises.  In some cases, medications and surgery may be suggested as TMJD treatment options, however, these come with the risk of side effects.  Chinese Medicine is a great treatment option for TMJDs, as it heals your condition by addressing the underlying health issues in your body.

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[read more]

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/

Centre of Balance: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine (n.d.).  Would You Like to Experience More Energy, & Less Stress & Pain? https://balancetcm.co.nz/

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.