What We Treat

TMJ and jaw pain treatment in Reseda.

Most people have no idea a physical therapist treats jaws. It is a joint with muscles around it, and it answers to a cause-first evaluation like any other joint.

Jaw clicking Clenching Jaw and neck Talk to a Specialist

Sound Familiar?

Does this sound like you?

  • Ordering the soft thing on the menu, because a steak is a commitment now
  • A click every time you yawn, loud enough that you cut the yawn short
  • Waking up with a tight jaw and a headache you did nothing to earn
  • Your dentist mentioned the wear on your back teeth before you mentioned pain
  • Holding your jaw shut through a long meeting, shoulders up by your ears
  • Chewing on one side only, and not remembering when that started

Two or more? Keep reading.

Why It Happens

Your jaw is a joint. Something is making it work harder.

Jaw pain is almost never one thing. It is usually some mix of four. Jaw muscles that never fully switch off, from clenching in the day and grinding at night. A small disc inside the joint that stops gliding smoothly, which is where the click comes from. A neck and head position that shifts where your jaw rests, so it closes slightly off track all day. And one-sided habits: chewing on the same side, a phone pinned to a shoulder, sleeping face down.

You have been carrying a lot, and your jaw has been carrying it with you. That is not a character flaw, it is a load you never got help with. A cause-first evaluation sorts out which of those four is driving your pain: the joint, the muscles, the neck, or a habit. A night guard protects your teeth, which matters, but it does not tell you why the muscles are working that hard. Soft food and waiting do not tell you either. The jaw and the neck work as a pair, and we treat neck pain and headaches here too, so the whole picture gets looked at once.

A licensed physical therapist assessing jaw and neck movement in Reseda

The Honest Truth

Waiting just teaches your jaw a worse habit.

If you keep waiting

  • The muscles stay short and tight, and your mouth opens a little less each month
  • The other side of your jaw takes over the chewing, and starts aching too
  • Your neck joins in, and the morning headaches get harder to separate from the jaw

If you start this week

  • You learn which part is driving it: the joint, the muscles, or your neck
  • Hands-on work on the jaw and the neck starts the same day you come in
  • A plan with an endpoint, plus the daytime habits that stop feeding the clench

Nobody regrets starting too early. A jaw does not get looser by being ignored.

How We Fix It

Four phases. For the jaw, and the neck under it.

Every plan has an endpoint. Here’s what Pain, Prime, Perform and Prevent look like for jaw pain.

Weeks 1–2

Pain

Get the jaw to let go.

Hands-on work on the jaw muscles and the neck brings the clenching down, starting your very first visit.

Weeks 2–6

Prime

Open without the catch.

Gentle joint work and guided movement bring back an opening that tracks straight instead of veering or catching.

Weeks 6–10

Perform

Train the jaw and neck together.

Your neck and postural muscles get strong enough to give the jaw a steady base to work from.

Weeks 10+

Prevent

Break the clenching habit.

You leave knowing your own triggers and the daytime habits that keep your jaw quiet. That is the endpoint.

They actually care.

Shared by Lora S. · Google review

Related Conditions

Pain rarely stays in one place.

Compensation patterns often show up nearby. Here’s what else we treat.

1

Neck Pain

Turning with your whole body, because your head will not turn that far.

Learn More 2

Headaches

The 3pm headache that starts at the base of your skull and takes the afternoon.

Learn More 3

Shoulder Pain

Reaching for the top shelf, then stopping halfway and wincing.

Learn More

Questions, Answered

What people ask before booking for jaw pain.

Yes, and most people are surprised to hear it. The jaw is a joint, with muscles, ligaments and a disc inside it, and it responds to hands-on treatment the way other joints do. A licensed physical therapist can treat the jaw muscles, the joint itself and the neck underneath it, because the neck and the jaw share the work. In California you can start without a physician referral. If your dentist is already treating you, that work and this work sit together fine.

Careful movement is usually part of the fix, not a risk. A jaw that is guarded all day gets tighter, opens less, and clenches harder at night. What we avoid is forcing it. The movement is small and guided at first, dosed to what your jaw tolerates, and it grows as the muscles let go. If the click is painless, we are far more interested in why the muscles are working that hard than in the noise itself.

Nobody can answer that honestly before looking at your jaw. What you get is a plan with an endpoint: all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform and Prevent, with your neck treated alongside your jaw when it is part of the picture. You will know which phase you are in and what is left, instead of an open tab of appointments. We treat neck pain and headaches too, so if those are traveling with the jaw pain, they belong in the same plan.

Book Your Visit

Ready when you are.

Request a time and a real person calls you back during business hours. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.

  • Hours Mon to Fri 8:00am to 5:00pm, Sat 8:00am to 12:00pm, Sun closed
  • (818) 341-3791 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
  • Saturday appointments, 8:00am to 12:00pm

20+ 5-star reviews on Google

A real person calls you back, not a robot

So we know who to look for when you walk in.

A real person calls to confirm, usually the same day.

No spam, just the details you need for your visit.

A sentence is plenty. We’ll ask the rest in person.

Everything look good?

Visit Us

Care this good, this close.

Suite 200, on Sherman Way between Reseda and Northridge. Street and lot parking are both there, though the lot is a little tight for a large vehicle.

Jewel Physical Therapy

Take Me There (opens in a new tab) Call Us