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Physical Therapy for TMJ Disorder

Problems in the jaw can be very debilitating and can wear on a person over time. TMJ disorder involves an array of issues that can occur in the jaw area, but the friendly staff at Impact Medical Cutler Bay is here to inform you on how to identify your symptoms and how physical therapy can help you!

What Is TMJ Disorder?

The temporomandibular joint, also referred to as TMJ, is located on both sides of the face in front of the ears. It includes the jaw joints along with the corresponding muscles and ligaments which connect the lower jawbone to the skull and allow us to perform actions such as chewing and speaking. The TMJ can undergo various traumas which become the reason for many unwelcome symptoms, thus causing temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD).

How Do I Know I Have TMD?

TMD Can have many underlying causes, most of them coming with the passing of age. Arthritis can occur in that area, general stress and trauma can be enough to cause symptoms, or an unfortunate dislocation of the joints can lead to TMD. Even bruxism, the grinding and clenching of the teeth, can create tension and evolve into pain or discomfort.

Symptoms of TMD include:

• Lockjaw
• Jaw tenderness, fatigue, or pain
• Clicking or popping sounds in the jaw
• Ringing in the ears
• Swelling
• Headaches
• Earaches
• Facial pain

How Can Physical Therapy Help TMD?

Since TMD is mostly caused by tension, trauma, or stress in the jaw, proper treatment involves relaxation techniques commonly found in physical therapy practices. PT offers a variety of methods to fine-tune your healing process in the most efficient way.

Relieving Muscle Tightness

If you suffer from bruxism, you tend to tighten your jaw muscles which can lead to extreme fatigue. Physical therapy can help train you to relax your jaw to relieve pressure. Stretching also plays a hand in regaining strength and finding relief.

Healing With Temperature

Using extreme temperatures to your advantage can treat a number of symptoms. Heat therapy is great for regulating blood circulation which is needed to bring warmth to the jaw for relaxation and ice therapy can reduce any swelling or pain in the affected area.

Practicing Good Posture

Posture actually has a role in how your jaw naturally sets. If you’re constantly subjecting your body to bad posture, it can cause your jawbones to come out of proper alignment. Physical therapy can help you adopt the habit of good posture to keep your jaw in place and prevent locking, popping, and cramping.

Regaining Jaw Movement

When you experience lockjaw or tight muscles, it hinders your ability to perform regular movements like eating or talking. Physical therapy can help you regain movement in your jaw by lessening the stress in your face which can also help ease pain.

What Kind of Physical Therapist Do I Need?

For TMJ disorder, it’s best to find a physical therapist who specializes in craniofacial-focused musculoskeletal problems. The trained professionals at Impact Medical Cutler Bay have seasoned specialists who can help you with all your TMD symptoms. Give us a call at 305-363-7446 to schedule an appointment today!

Common Wrist Injuries Caused by Car Accidents

After suffering from an automobile accident, it’s common for victims to struggle with diagnosing and communicating their injuries. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and at a loss on both where and how to begin the healing process. There are so many different possible injuries, and it can be hard to even know how to self-diagnose or begin researching steps to get you on the path of feeling yourself again.

One of the most common areas we see our patients suffer injuries in is the wrist. Due to the impact of the crash and the placement of your hands on the wheel- wrists are likely to be impacted by the force created by an accident. That’s why today, we wanted to share with you some of the most common wrist injuries caused by automotive accidents.

Sprains

Wrists are connected by sturdy tissues known as ligaments. When the wrist strikes a hard object during an accident, the ligaments can be damaged, causing a sprain. Wrist sprains commonly occur when the wrist is bent into a backward angle or hits items in the vehicle. Sprains are painful and can lead to swelling, reduced movement, and chronic instability in the wrists and hands. If not treated properly, you can suffer from long-term damage such as chronic arthritis.

Wrist sprains are ranked by three grades according to the severity of ligament damage:

• Grade one is a mild sprain that stretches (not tears) the ligaments, remaining intact but still causing pain.
• Grade two is a medium sprain that causes partial tearing of the ligaments and oftentimes, loss of functionality in the wrist.
• Grade three is a severe sprain where the ligaments connecting the wrist’s bones are entirely torn, requiring medical or surgical treatment to correct. Sprains under this category can also result in an avulsion fracture, which occurs when pieces of bone are broken off from the ligament tearing.

Fractures

Overall, the wrist and the hand are composed of 27 bones, 13 connecting from the wrist to the palm and 14 among your fingers. These bones are very delicate and can be broken or fractured easily. After experiencing any type of blunt force trauma, such as when the hands or wrists hit the steering wheel or airbag during an accident, it is not uncommon for victims to experience fractures.

Some common types of fracture-related wrist injuries include:

• Scaphoid fractures
• Broken wrists and fingers
• Fractured knuckles
• Crushed hands

Common Symptoms of Wrist Injuries That Should Not Be Ignored

If you experience any of the following symptoms after a car accident, you may be suffering from a serious wrist injury:

• Pain in the wrists, hands, or fingers
• Swelling/tingling in the wrists or hands
• Bruising and discoloration surrounding wrists
• Difficulty straightening or flexing the wrists or fingers
• Immobility in hands, wrists, and fingers

It is important to keep in mind that wrist injuries do not always display symptoms instantly. This is why it is important that you seek medical attention immediately after a car accident to be able to diagnose a hand or wrist injury to prevent further injuries from happening. 

At Impact Medical in Lutz, we’re always finding new and innovative ways to provide state-of-the-art treatment and services for our patients so that we can get them feeling their best, as quickly as possible. Our team of doctors, chiropractors, manual therapists, imaging specialists, and physical therapists are waiting to work together to develop a treatment plan that will get you back to feeling your best in no time. Call us today at (813) 536-4271!

Most Common Chiropractic Tools for Treating Accident Pain

If you’ve been injured in a car accident before, then you know how difficult it can be to feel like you’re going to be able to find the treatment you need. Let alone worrying about getting your car repaired. But, when you’re in a car accident, it’s essential that you get medical attention as quickly as you possibly can. Because you never know if you’ve suffered injuries under the surface that won’t show up for a few days, weeks, even months. 

The chiropractic and accident injury and recovery professionals at Impact Medical Lutz have helped countless patients identify and treat their accident injuries through expert and compassionate care. That’s because chiropractic care can help you recover without having to use prescription medications or even surgery when it’s done right. 

Here at Impact Medical, we always take time to work with a new patient from the moment they arrive. After all, when you look around our facility, you’ll find yourself wondering exactly what all the equipment we have does. So today, we wanted to give you a quick rundown of the most common chiropractic tools we use every day to help our patients treat their accident pain. 

Common Chiropractic Tools for Treating Accident Pain

The Chiropractic Table

This table is one of the first and most frequent ones that we use to treat our car accident injury patients. That’s because it’s the most essential tool for treating just about any injury you can think of. There are a few different types of chiropractor’s tables that you can find in our office, including: 

Elevation Table: This table is used to help position your body at the best possible height for our chiropractic specialists to work on you effectively. 

Flexion Table: This table is what we use to perform the flexion-distraction technique used explicitly for car accident injuries. 

Decompression Table: This table is designed to elongate your spine and lessen the pain while our staff is working on your injuries. A decompression table is significant for patients that have suffered a herniated disc. 

When you come into our offices, if you’re unsure which table you’re looking at, we’re always happy to walk you through which table and why we’re using it for your recovery care. 

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Therapy

This is one of our favorite tools to help treat back injuries because it uses electrical therapy electrodes placed in a belt and worn around your back. Every unit varies in size and strength, and you can adjust the amount of stimulation on your own as you’re receiving your treatment. 

We used TENS units because they’re highly effective in helping to stimulate certain muscles and nerves to help treat any discomfort or tightness you’re experiencing in your back. They’re great tools to help us reduce inflammation you’re experiencing in your back after a car accident. 

Interferential Current Therapy

This is another common tool we use for treating accident pain because it also uses high-frequency electrical impulses to treat any injuries causing acute pain. They work similarly to the TENS units and are more effective in acute pain injuries than in patients suffering from chronic back pain. 

EMG Machine

An EMG Machine, or electromyography machine, is designed and used to measure electrical impulses as they pass through your muscles. Our accident pain professionals will use an EMG machine to help measure the speed of conduction of certain nerves around your injured muscles or body area. It works by measuring the action potential that occurs when you contract your muscles, which fires your neurons. 

Stop Living with Accident Pain

If you’ve been in an accident recently or if you’re suffering from chronic pain and injuries caused by an accident that went untreated, we invite you to reach out to our Impact Medical team in Lutz. Our staff is always here to help you optimize your recovery and provide you with the friendly, compassionate, and specialized medical care you deserve. 

Your road to wellness starts here… so, give us a call today at (786)-789-3171.

7 Reasons Why Neck Pain Needs Immediate Attention After a Crash

Whiplash is the most common neck injury to occur after a car crash. This is because while the rest of your body is more protected with seat belts and airbags, there’s not much stopping your head from jerking back and forth from a heavy impact. The symptoms may not show right away, but there are many problems that can arise if not treated immediately. The caring professionals at Impact Medical Miami are here to warn you of the dangers of leaving whiplash undiagnosed and untreated.

Chronic Pain and Headaches

Withstanding an accident can already be a painful experience at the moment. However, your body can continue to feel chronic pain over an extended period if your injuries aren’t treated right away. This type of discomfort is usually described as uncontrollable muscle spasms, severe shooting pains, and debilitating weakness.

Aside from chronic pain, you can also suffer from chronic headaches. These types of headaches are more severe as they can be felt from the neck all the way to the forehead, and it usually comes in radiating waves of pain.

Neurological Damage

Since the neck is an extension of your spinal cord, whiplash can lead to spinal misalignment. The nerves that carry signals to your brain are housed in the vertebrae and so a misaligned spine can lead to neurological damage. There are two types of nerve damage that can result from an accident:

Nerve root irritation stems from hernias caused by direct pressure on the discs and can be identified by the swelling and inflammation that follows.

Referred pain can happen after structural damage in the neck or ligaments and causes confusion in the signals being sent to the brain regarding where the pain is actually coming from.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Since most neck injuries involve the spine which in turn affects the nerves, it’s no surprise that untreated whiplash can also lead to traumatic brain injury. Symptoms include:

Difficulty communicating

High sound sensitivity

Trouble Sleeping

Lower IQ

Slower than usual reaction time

Degenerative Disc Disease

Herniated discs and a misaligned spinal cord fall under degenerative disc disease. If left untreated, the structure of your spine can deteriorate thus making you more prone to stiffness, instability, and even bone fractures. Such fractures are medically known as osteoporosis which is common in older individuals.

Cervicogenic Dizziness

More commonly known as vertigo, cervicogenic dizziness is another nerve-related issue that can occur after a car crash. You’ll notice debilitating dizziness and instability which makes it nearly impossible to retain your balance even when standing completely still. As you might expect, the frequent and intense motions can induce nausea.

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

When the blood vessels between your neck and shoulders become compressed, it can cause thoracic outlet syndrome. You’ll experience radiating pain in the affected area as well as numbness that can track all the way down to your fingers making it difficult to perform your daily routines.

Loss of Mobility

This problem may seem less severe compared to some of the others that have been mentioned but it can still cause a damper on your daily activities. Some people don’t realize just how much and how often you turn your head until you begin to suffer from a lack of mobility in the neck. If left alone, this debilitating stiffness can follow you throughout the rest of your life.

Get Immediate Treatment!

As you can see, there are many chronic problems that can develop into permanent symptoms if you don’t seek treatment immediately after a car crash. If you suspect that you might have whiplash, don’t hesitate! Physical therapy and chiropractic care are both proven methods of relieving symptoms before they exacerbate in a way that’s easy on your body.

At Impact Medical Miami we’re certified to give you personalized treatment plans specifically for car crash injuries. Make an appointment with us today by calling 786-789-3171!