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Jaw Pain and Physiotherapy

Have you experienced jaw pain/TMJ pain? Did you know that physiotherapy can help treat jaw disorders? You may have read our previous article Do You Have TMJ? and are thinking this will be more of the same… however, jaw pain is complex and there are enough details for countless blogs on the jaw! Let’s dive in…

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain may present itself with some varying symptoms depending on what is going on.

TMJ dysfunction often looks and feels like (one, some, or all of):

  • jaw pain often worse with opening the mouth wide/yawning
  • restricted range of motion (difficulty moving the jaw in various ways)
  • may be clicking present – which may be painful or non painful
  • pain/difficulties with chewing harder/chewy foods
  • locking of the jaw (getting stuck open, closed or somewhere in between)
  • ringing in the ears/feeling stuffy
  • neck pain and headaches

There is a large connection between the upper neck and the TMJ therefore often times people with TMJ issues also present with some dysfunction of the upper cervical spine and may also have neck pain/headaches. At times there can be some associated ear symptoms such as ringing of the ears/stuffiness.

Some causes for the TMJ dysfunction could be if the articular disc inside the joint is not gliding properly within the joint (internal derangement), tension of the muscles of the jaw/neck, arthritis of the TMJ joint, due to a connective tissue disorder causing hypermobility or due to a trauma to the joint (such as a fracture or an acute arthritis). Quite often, there is some associated mechanical dysfunction of the upper cervical spine alongside the TMJ disorder.

Jaw pain can be closely connected to the function of the neck. We ensure to look into this possible connection

What is the TMJ?

The temporomandibular joint consists of the articulating bony surfaces of the condyle of the jaw bone (mandible) and a groove in one of the bones of the head (temporal bone). There is an intraarticular disc inside the joint which when functioning properly glides between the two boney surfaces. Various muscles attach either to the disk or around the joint. There is connective tissue that surrounds the joint forming the joint capsule.

Depending on what the cause of the TMJ pain is, physiotherapy may be able to help! Contact us for more details and get started on your road to recovery TODAY!

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Stress Incontinence

Ever wonder why you leak when you cough, sneeze, jump, run, or change position? This is called stress incontinence, which is a common issue that can present at any age.
 
“But I’ve been doing Kegels, why do I still leak? And I think it might even be getting WORSE!”
 

Having strong pelvic floor muscles that are not coordinating well, or are simply too tight, can also be a problem as well. So ‘just doing kegels’ may seem ineffective, or could be making the issue worse…

This great introductory video shows some of the underlying reasons why we can develop stress incontinence (SUI).

 
Don’t worry! We at Warman Physio are here to help! We have pelvic health therapists in Warman (Kendra & Maja) as well as a pelvic health therapist in Saskatoon (Maja) for clients experiencing leaking (stress incontinence) as well as a variety of other pelvic floor complaints which we have talked about before.
 
It is never too late (or too early!) to have your pelvic floor issues addressed. Pelvic floor issues can happen to children (assessed and treated by Haylie), women, and men. Whether you feel like it’s just getting started and you are only leaking a little, or it’s been going on for a while, and perhaps you’re leaking a lot; we are here to help you, help yourself!
 
Start your road to recovery and book your appointment TODAY!
 
*Now conveniently providing care in Warman and Saskatoon
 
Wondering what to expect in your pelvic health assessment? We’ve got you covered! Remember, your comfort is the most important
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Bed Wetting: it just won’t stop!

Bed wetting can be an extremely frustrating problem to have, for kids and their parents. Why does it happen? What might be causing it? How can physio help?

Pediatric pelvic health physiotherapy is an integral part of the care team for children that are experiencing persistent bed wetting aka nocturnal enuresis. Many children go through daytime potty learning, and just seem to never really quite get the night-time down pat. For others, they breeze through daytime and night-time dryness, and then at some point the night-time problems start and just get worse over time. If you are struggling with potty learning check out our blog.

So why does bed wetting happen?

Evaluating movement and coordination is critical in identifying underlying reasons for bed wetting

Bed wetting can in some instances simply be a result of a deep sleeper and an immature bladder. These are kids that will eventually just grow out of it. Many children, however, fit into the “underlying contributing factors” category. Our ability to be continent (hold our urine) at night can be impacted by a number of factors. Here we will go through two main issues:

  1. Constipation
  2. Daytime urinary dysfunction

Constipation

Often times we think of constipation as children going days on end without bowel movements, having extreme difficulty evacuating the bowel, tears, and an overall dramatic experience (which definitely may be the case). BUT some of the time constipation looks like multiple bowel movements a day, quick trips to the washroom, and stool being evacuated without having an actual sensation of the “I need to poop”

The question is how does constipation impact bed wetting? During appointments we take the time to sit down and draw out the relationship (clients get signed copies to take home because the artistic talent is top notch!) – but imagine that the bladder is a balloon, and the abdomen is like a Tupperware container. If the bowel is a long skinny balloon that also fits into the container there is only a certain amount of space in there. When we start to stuff the bowel with some extra stool, it will take up more space in the container. This will leave less space for the bladder, and it will get squished before it can send a signal of “I’m full go pee!” resulting in bed wetting. Biggest take away?

Really the child has no signal that they need to go!

Discussing bed wetting can be challenging especially as a child ages, but making children comfortable and confident is the goal

Daytime Urinary Dysfunction

When a parent comes with their child for an appointment and the only reason is “bed wetting” there is a good chance that it isn’t JUST bed wetting. In order for the problem to be strictly nocturnal enuresis, it needs to be present in the absence of any daytime abnormalities. Many children that come in have several daytime issues going on, and often the parents don’t even realize it! Here are a few things that often come up during discussions with children:

  • decreased urinary frequency during the day (<4x/day)
  • increased urinary frequency during the day (>7x/day)
  • leaking urine during the day
  • altered sensation to void (not sensing the urge to go, or having the urge and being unable to go)
  • voiding difficulties (feeling the urge to go and not being able to)

We struggle especially with school aged children as we often don’t know what their bathroom habits are! Our society tends to significantly limit our bathroom involvement with our kids after they have potty learned, even though they may need parent support until age 5 to ensure they are building positive bowel and bladder hygiene routines!

 

If you have a child that is holding their bladder all day, you can imagine that might impact night-time dryness. If they are having any sort of daytime dysfunction, the night-time wetting will have difficulty resolving independently, since our kids are sleeping (hopefully!) at night, the greatest impact we can have on bed wetting is by working on the daytime dysfunction and/or constipation!

 

Ultimately, bed-wetting in many instances is not something that the child is wanting to do or has control over (despite what many of our friends and relatives will tell us). If you have a child that is wetting at night at any age, it may be worth it to think about some of these factors. When in doubt, give us a shout!

 

Book an assessment for your child!

Haylie has been practicing pelvic health and focused in prenatal and post-partum care since graduating from the U of S MPT program in 2011. She officially added to her practice pediatric pelvic floor therapy in 2017. Haylie has been advocating for treatment for women, ensuring appropriate and effective care throughout pregnancy and post-partum, and helping all expecting and post-partum moms ultimately brought her to open her family-friendly clinic since opening in 2014. She now adds to this education and treatment provision her knowledge and experience in pediatric pelvic health providing workshops and presentations in addition to assessment and treatment. At Warman Physio clients are encouraged to bring their infants and children to treatment. Haylie was recognized as YWCA Women of Distinction for Health & Wellness in 2017, the ABEX Young Entrepreneur Award Recipient in 2018, and a finalist in the 2019 SABEX and WMBEXA Awards.
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What is CranioSacral Therapy All About?

You may have seen that our Saskatoon location is now open for appointments. Signe Bone is providing some new treatment techniques for Warman Physio, and one of those treatments is CranioSacral Therapy. We thought our clients would like to know what CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is all about!

The Basics – Where it started

CST was pioneered and developed by John E Upledger, an osteopathic physician from 1975-1983 with extensive scientific studies at the Michigan State University. Upledger was a clinical researcher and Professor of Biomechanics at MSU.

 

What CST treatment involves

When coming in for an appointment you can expect to feel supported and cared for as the therapist will apply subtle movements on the spinal and cranial bones to bring the central nervous system into harmony. Signe will evaluate and address the movement of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which can be restricted by trauma to the body (such as falls, accidents, infections and general nervous tension). By gently working with the spine, skull and sacrum, these restrictions for nerve passages are eased and movement of the CSF through the spinal cord can be optimized. A nervous system free of restrictions enables the body to return to its highest levels of performance. When attending an appointment for CST alone, the treatment can be provided with the client fully clothed. If CST is combined with more traditional massage techniques the client will dress-down appropriately for the treatment with instruction from the therapist. Treatments independently last on average 60 minutes.

What Types of issues can CranioSacral Therapy benefit?

There are a wide array of things that CST can be beneficial in treating including:

  • Migraines and headaches
  • Chronic pain
  • Central Nervous System Disorders (ie spasticity, seizures, hearing problems)
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Reflux
  • Anxiety
  • Orthopedic problems
  • Scoliosis
  • Chronic fatigue

Special continuing education in CST can be done in order to specifically work with infants and children in addition to the adult populations.

 

Want to book in with Signe? You can choose the type of treatment you will receive when you book online!

 

 Signe’s passion for understanding the human body began at a young age with her own sports and repetitive strain injuries from her former schooling as a musician. After seeing the healing benefits of movement, breath awareness, massage therapy and physio,  Signe was inspired to focus on her training in Visceral Manipulation and CranialSacral therapy. After learning and seeing how amazing and intricate the body is, and the impact these treatments can impart on the body, she has developed a treatment style that incorporates all these various techniques to provide the best treatment to each client based on their own unique needs.
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Family Focused – What does that MEAN?

We see many people talking about being family friendly, kid friendly, family centred, or family focused in their business. What does this truly mean at Warman Physio?

When looking to start the clinic, I had worked in several places that were “family friendly”, but didn’t have any change tables, toys, or ways to keep kids occupied. This puts the onus 100% on the parents to remember to bring things for the kids (who may unpack the bag before you leave), and check to make sure that everything is charged (as we sometimes discover that technology requiring a charge isn’t always charged when we want it…) and the snacks are the snacks that the kids will actually eat (and hopefully not make a a colossal mess). Which is a huge undertaking when you are a new mom, or just frazzled trying to get the kids out of the house!

What I wanted to achieve at the clinic is a family friendly environment for everyone. I want each person who comes to the clinic to feel like family, sort of like coming home. The goal is for everyone, regardless of what service, issue, or injury they may be coming in for to get this ‘vibe’. For me, it has been a critical focus that when adding new therapists and staff that we stick to this value – being warm, welcoming, and compassionate. (It is written right into the clinic vision and mission statements!)

At the clinic you will find toys, games, books, swings, chairs, wraps, and carriers all intended to help keep babies and older children happy and content during appointments (regardless of what mom remembers to bring!)

The clinic treats babies and children right up to older adults; we truly are able to help everyone across the lifespan!

Ensuring that everyone is treated like an extended family member is the environment you can expect at Warman Physio.

The biggest reason why I wanted this particular feel is because I often heard that people would avoid going for needed appointments because they were unable to afford childcare; or they didn’t have support around to help watch their children while they attended their treatments. Not because they couldn’t (or were told they couldn’t) bring their babies to appointments, but because the environment of acceptance that sometimes babies cry and appointments don’t go as planned made bringing their kids to appointments difficult and uncomfortable. Now don’t let me give you the wrong impression – the therapists want the kids and babies to come, but when it’s not the “norm” it can be a difficult distraction to overcome!

Seeing prenatal and postpartum women, infants and children at the clinic has been the clinic ‘niche’ from the beginning – we just do it a lot! So having that colicky baby that cries the whole time? We’ve got this. Having that baby that needs to lay on momma the whole time? No problem. Having the two big kids that for some reason just NEED to both be on the blue chair? We can figure that out too. Our therapists will hang onto babies, use the swings, and help older kids problem solve during appointments, and sometimes (when mom is comfortable), Laura will snag some of the babies and wander around with them so the mommas can focus on their appointments. It is wonderful to have the content babies and kids in at the clinic, but the kids that are more ‘challenging’ aren’t any less welcome. We enjoy seeing all the kids that come in and want them to feel welcome as well!

So if you have been waiting until you’re back at work, have been putting off coming because you can’t afford childcare, or simply just didn’t know what to do with the kids for your appointments, don’t hesitate to book in with us! We even have kids attend massage appointments with parents sometimes (but I get wanting to be able to get into fully relaxed mode!) 😉

We are here to welcome you into our Warman Physio family – wherever you may fit!

Haylie has been practicing pelvic health and focused in prenatal and post-partum care since graduating from the U of S MPT program in 2011. She now adds to this education and treatment, her knowledge and experience in pediatric pelvic health providing workshops and presentations in addition to assessment and treatment. Haylie has been advocating for treatment for women, ensuring appropriate and effective care throughout pregnancy and post-partum, and helping all expecting and post-partum moms since she started practicing. This ultimately brought her to open her family-friendly clinic in 2014.  At Warman Physio clients are encouraged to bring their infants and children to treatment if they need. Haylie was recognized as YWCA Women of Distinction finalist for Health & Wellness in 2017, the ABEX Young Entrepreneur Award Recipient in 2018, and a finalist in the 2019 SABEX and WMBEXA Awards.
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