Can You Get Lasting TMD Relief From Special Headbands?

TMJ disorder causes trying symptoms that make life nearly unbearable. Because temporomandibular joint disorder is so debilitating, sufferers are often pushed toward surgical procedures that make permanent changes to bone and tissue within the jaw joint. Since they are afraid of painful, invasive surgery, many TMD patients are willing to give holistic treatments a try. Unfortunately, numerous companies have taken advantage of this desperation by offering gimmicky products that don’t address the source cause of TMJ disorder.

Special Headbands

A company called Holistic Technologies recently issued a press release to help market a product that supposedly relieves TMD symptoms. Called “biofeedback headbands,” these products are supposed to promote behavior modification through conditioning strategies based on auditory signals. According to Holistic Technologies, users are supposed to wear the headbands while they sleep. During this time, the headband is supposed to monitor a user’s temples for flexing which serves to indicate jaw clenching. When it senses this flexing, the device emits an unpleasant sound that signals the user to cease this activity, which the company blames for common TMD symptoms, such as jaw pain, tooth pain, neck pain and headaches.

A Reasonable Solution?

Unfortunately for people who suffer from TMJ disorder, biofeedback headbands aren’t a reasonable solution for treating their debilitating symptoms. It doesn’t take a genius to see that intermittent noises have the power to disrupt a person’s sleep. Additionally, besides causing sleep deprivation, this holistic treatment isn’t likely to prevent jaw clenching when a user is unconscious. Finally, biofeedback headbands aren’t likely to offer any long-term TMD relief, because they don’t address the main source of TMJ disorder: a bad bite.

Getting Long-term Relief

Holistic TMD remedies, such as yoga, massage, acupuncture and biofeedback headbands, are all similar in one key way: they don’t have the power to offer long-term relief, because they don’t correct a sufferer’s bite problems. On the other hand, Dr. Berry offers his patients long-term relief from TMJ disorder by correcting their misaligned bites. To learn more, visit Dr. Stephen M. Winber and Dr. Kevin S. Berry – Crainiofacial Diagnostic on our Wellness Village website.