I have huge respect for the humble jaw, it's mechanism is designed to switch between eating and speaking and is quite beautifully designed.  I'm re-discovering just how much I enjoy working with jaw issues.

Ortho-Bionomy® can be very effective for jaw / TMJ (Temporomandibular) issues.
Last week I worked with someone who could hardly open her jaw.  I'm not mentioning her name to preserve anonymity and this is NOT a photo of her!
She had nerve pain in her teeth and face, swelling around the face & jaw and had lost weight due to not being able to eat properly.  By the end of the first session the swelling & pain had reduced, she could open her mouth wider and her jaw could move from side to side - at the start of the treatment there was zero side to side movement.

On a different note, when we talk, the jaw moves slightly forward then hinges down.  A not so fun fact is sometimes the jaw gets stuck in either the forward or resting back position - meaning the initial forward movement is impinged.

There are many muscles attached to the jaw. When working with jaw issues I'll check the muscles that might be pulling the jaw out of alignment and release any tension in them.  This gives the jaw a chance to come back to its correct alignment.

If the jaw is getting stuck or has uneven movement when opening (often one side is more mobile than the other) I'll use gentle non invasive techniques to facilitate smoother, balanced movement.

I will also work with neck & shoulders muscles, the base of the tongue, first and second ribs and the clavicle bones. If there's an imbalance in any of these, they can sometimes pull on the muscles attached to the jaw & pull it out of alignment.

The aim is for the jaw to settle into its resting place & for the surrounding muscles not to be over recruiting or pulling unevenly.

Next time you or someone you know has jaw issues consider an Ortho-Bionomy treatment.

If you would like a simple self care freebie to start a new relationship with your jaw, sign up to my bi-monthly newsletter.  The newsletter offers updates & access to self care tips for various conditions & injuries.

The Healing Switch is located in Inner West Sydney. Fiona Munro is an accredited, fully qualified Ortho-Bionomy practitioner with over 1000 hours of training and 15 years experience working with pain and injuries.

Most of us take our shoulders for granted when they’re in a happy place and moving freely.  Most of us have also had a shoulder issue at least once in our lives.

Shoulder pain can interrupt sleep, limit our everyday activities, get on our nerves & wear us down.  Impingement in the shoulder girdle can also cause headaches and lead to more serious issues such as frozen shoulder, bursitis or rotator cuff injury.

Sleepless nights and ferocious pain can sometimes be alarming. The good news is there are effective ways to address underlying shoulder problems leading to relief from pain and freedom to move again.

The shoulder joint is the only joint in our body designed to move in every direction.  Think about this for a minute – in everyday movements our shoulder moves forward, upward and backwards.

To enable the shoulder to move in all directions, the ligaments that hold the upper arm bone (humerus) in the shoulder socket are relatively loose - they’re not doing much stabilizing.

So what’s stabilizing the shoulder joint if the ligaments aren’t? You’ve probably heard the term “rotator cuff”.  This refers to four muscles attaching from the shoulder blade to the upper arm bone (humerus). They surround the upper arm bone like a sleeve or ‘cuff’.  These muscles are designed to relax so the shoulder can move freely in all directions, they're also designed to contract when needed, to stabilize the shoulder.

I've had a lot of success working with shoulder issues, including frozen shoulders. 

One client had been told by various professionals there was nothing she could do about her frozen shoulder other than wait it out for 15-18 months.  She'd read about Ortho-Bionomy® online and decided to give something she’d never heard of a go. 

There was very little movement in her shoulder girdle and she was being kept awake at night.  After the first treatment she had several nights of uninterrupted, pain free sleep. After the second treatment she experienced increased range of movement in the shoulder joint, the tension in her face had gone and she reported feeling less ‘guarded’ because the pain had eased. This rate of improvement continued and she was able to resume all the activities that had been on hold, including going back to the gym.

Another client sent me the following message after her first treatment “Have to say it’s the best my shoulder has been in 5 months”.  She had also tried various other approaches.

I don’t claim this will happen for everyone.  Every body & every injury is unique. 

In an Ortho-Bionomy® treatment I apply my years of training, knowledge and experience working with shoulders.  I look for  underlying structural imbalances that might be causing the dysfunction.  I use techniques that can release impingements & help the body to find new postural patterns.  Self-care exercises are also suggested to help the body further self-correct.

I used to be an advocate for deep tissue massage but these days I appreciate  getting results with a gentler approach. 

Even though I’ve had years of positive results from Ortho-Bionomy, I continue to be surprised when people report enormous benefits and changes after sessions.  It continues to make my job rewarding and gratifying.

If you know someone suffering from shoulder pain I invite you to share this blog with them and if you’d like more information and self-care tips I invite you to sign up to my newsletter.

Meanwhile, may we all be the best version of our physical selves!

Fiona Munro is a fully qualified Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner, Ka Huna masseuse and Yoga Teacher.  She is registered with Ortho-Bionomy Australia Ltd and a Board Director on the OBA Ltd Board of Directors.  She is the Director at The Healing Switch.

For long term benefit, it's worth investigating & addressing underlying structural issues.  Along with the more immediate benefits of reducing pain & inflammation.

If someone has Bursitis I’ll release the pressure around the inflamed area & importantly I’ll also address underlying structural issues that might be contributing to the Bursitis.

I use gentle targeted movements & techniques to release restricted areas. By taking pressure & tension off the surrounding bones, muscles & tendons, the flow of the special white blood cells (macrophages - the bodies natural mechanism to clear inflammation) is increased which helps clear inflammation.

I also address underlying structural issues that might be contributing to the Bursitis. The bones involved might be in odd positions & pulled out of alignment. I’ll make pain free adjustments to help the body settle into a better situation.

Bursitis is the inflammation of a Bursa.  A Bursa is a sac filled with fluid, designed to keep two structures from being in direct contact with each other.  A good example is two bones in a joint eg. the hips.  A Bursa is developed by the body to completely separate the bones.  It also facilitates gliding action of the bones enabling them to slide over each other without causing friction and wear & tear. 

Sometimes the Bursa gets inflamed and this is called Bursitis.  This can be caused by injury, repetitive movement or postural positions that put extra pressure on the Bursa.

In the case of injury sometimes one or more bones in the joint have stopped moving (the bodies way of protecting itself) The aim is to restore functional movement so that people can do the things they love to do.

In the case of structural issues, the bones involved might be in odd positions & pulled out of alignment.  In treatments I'll use gentle techniques to help restore a healthy muscular skeletal structure so the body can settle into its best situation.

If you can think of someone who has Bursitis and might find this helpful please share this link.

In the meantime may we find the best version of ourselves and our bodies!

Fiona Munro
The Healing Switch

Can you sit comfortably for more than 10 minutes without leaning into the back of your chair?
Read on if you'd like to sit with more comfort and less holding/pain in the lower back.

I invite you to try the following.  Bringing inquisitiveness & gentleness to the experiment, sit a little forward on your chair, as in, wriggle the butt forward so you’re no longer resting your back against the back of the chair. Legs are a little wider than or in line with the hip sockets like 2 legs of a tripod. Can you find a posture that’s nicely balanced, with little or no strain and a loose relaxed easiness in the hip sockets? 
Can your shoulders give into gravity & rest down?  

If after a while you experience niggles or pains in the hips or lumbar region, you’re not alone.  This is quite common.  I find the following movements extremely beneficial the moment I (or my clients) get aching, tightness, sharp pains in the lower back.

The following simple exercise can make profound changes, it can bring increased flexibility & strength to the spine and encourages the curves of the spine to find their natural place.  It also helps to balance the muscles on either side of the hips & pelvis. All of these facilitate improved posture.

I've found it very useful for addressing pains in the hips & the lower back and a good antidote to extended periods of sitting.  One of my teachers Luann Overmyer, was able to correct her scoliosis in a short amount of time by doing this exercise*.

Definitely don’t do this movement with strain.  There's no benefits from going past your limit. Keep it comfortable. I encourage clients to imagine they’re on holiday along with inhabiting an attitude of 'no big deal'. 

Firstly locate the sit bones.  These are 2 bony protrusions at the very bottom of the pelvis.  They bear the weight of the pelvis while sitting.  To find them while sitting, (one side at a time is sometimes easier) slide a hand under the butt cheek & locate what’ll feel like a boney knuckle.
 
Now you’ve found them, remove your hand & very slowly tip the hips backwards & forwards so you’re moving onto the sit bones, over them and off ie forwards & backwards. 
Do this a few times.  

Now, sit without moving and simply notice.  Take your brain to your sit bones.  Without making any changes observe if one feels heavier than the other, more pointy than the other, maybe one is really obvious and the other is elusive?

Once again very slowly & gently tip the hips forward then backwards a few times.  Without making any changes notice if one sit bone is less smooth than the other, maybe one rolls forward a little faster than the other. 
As you’re ‘playing’ notice the movements in the spine.  You might also notice the lower back starting to feel more relaxed & less ‘twingy’.

Part 3 of this movement is to start reducing the tipping movement of the hips. 

Halve the distance, then halve the distance again, then halve again.  Continue in this way till you're barely moving and your torso arrives at a natural place of stillness. Take an easy breath, let it go and notice how your upper torso feels.  You might feel a sense of lightness, as if all the effort to sit has disappeared and a sense that the vertebrates (back bones) are stacked effortlessly and the shoulders might feel they no longer have to "hold themselves up"

I'm interested to know if you made any discoveries, noticed any changes, experienced decreased pain in your lower back while doing this exercise?

Particularly after a few days of doing it a few times each day. 

Please feel welcome to comment below