A Massage Therapist walks into a Physical Therapy class...

That’s not the start of a poorly told joke! Fall of 2019 I attended my first physical therapy level training for TMJ / craniofacial pain. As the only massage therapist there it appeared I had more hands on jaw hours and history of TMJ classes already then some of the other therapists. Due to my self directed training and network of airway focused Austin professionals I could speak their language and even add to the conversation.

My smart and kind teacher was Mike Karegeannes, PT of Freedom Physical Therapy Services in Wisconsin. Some of my takeaways included gentle joint distraction and a better understanding of the joint itself in good and bad function. And PTs love their data and studies! One looked at the reasons for joint pain when referred to PT and found the largest subset was caused by myofacial pain (MUSCLES!). Muscles create more pain than disc displacement and arthritic issues.