TMJ Specialist
Larisa N. Likver, MD
Pain Management Physician located in New York, NY & Brooklyn, NY
TMJ Q&A
TMJ PROLOTHERAPY: A NEW HOPE FOR AN OLD PROBLEM
Temporomandibular joint disorders, commonly known as TMJD or TMD, are endemic in the American population.
According to the American Dental Association, more than 15% of American adults suffer from chronic facial pain. One of the most common causes is Tempomandibular Joint Disease (TMD), a collective term used to describe a group of medical disorders causing temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and dysfunction, and is estimated by The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health to affect 10.8 million people in the United States at any given time
TMD is frequently a cause or a significant aggravating factor in such common symptoms as tension headache, migraine, facial pain, ear pain, tinnitus, neck pain, etc.
Prolotherapy is an effective treatment choice for TMD sufferers
In 1937 the first published article on Prolotherapy, short for “proliferation injection therapy” and now also known as regenerative injection therapy (RIT), focused on treating the TMJ.
Prolotherapy is based on the concept that the cause of most chronic musculoskeletal pain is ligament and/or tendon weakness (or laxity).
The basic principle of Prolotherapy is to inject a substance that will cause a mild, controlled inflammation within the joint and at attachments of tendons and ligaments to a bone around the joint, which will trigger a self- regenerative, self-healing process in the area which, in turn, will lead to strengthening of tendons and ligaments. The process stabilizes the joint, improves the range of motion in a hypomobile joint, helps prevent dislocation in a hypermobile joint, relieves pain and other related symptoms.
Prolotherapy technique is safe and effective treatment of TMJD. This treatment modality provides a long-term solution rather than just palliation. It should be highly considered by people who do not respond adequately to other forms of nonsurgical therapy and continue suffer from unresolved TMJ pain and dysfunction.