Recently as part of the Elite Myotherapy Professional Development program we were lucky enough to have an audience with Dr. Peter J. Selvaratnam – Associate Professor from the University of Melbourne and Musculoskeletal Specialist.
Dr Selvaratnam talked about different types of headaches and factors contributing to them, and disorders associated with temporomandibular joint dysfunction or more commonly referred to as TMD.
Dr. Selvaratnam explained that when treating TMD related headaches there are two different categories Primary and Secondary.
- Primary headaches are classified as not being related to an underlying pathology; this can be headaches caused from migraines, vision disturbances, dehydration etc.
- Secondary headaches are associated with an underlying medical pathology such as a dental abscess, cracked teeth, chiari malformation etc.
The main focus of the training was looking at assessment, diagnosis and the treatment on TMD. Assessing the muscles and bones around the head, neck, jaw and shoulder, diagnosing what is the root cause and how to treat TMD and headaches.
After a review of joint mechanics and the structures involved, we covered a range of treatment techniques ranging from dry needling to lasers, and importantly ways to manage clients TMD with exercise prescription.
Throughout the presentation it was great to see the way Dr. Selvaratnam was able to share his vast experience and his knowledge of TMD with our team .
Written By Luke Walsh Myotherapist
