Jenni Soikkeli: enhancing therapy outcomes with TMJ pain patients

Jenni Soikkeli is a physiotherapist specialising in pain and symptoms in the jaw, neck and shoulder region. Most of her clients have problems with the neck and shoulders or the masticatory system, including chronic neck pain, tension, stiffness, headaches, jaw pain and painful, tense jaw muscles. LymphaTouch has become part of Jenni's toolkit, especially with pain clients.

“I use LymphaTouch to treat soft tissue tension, pain and scars, especially trigger points in the jaw muscles and the suboccipital muscles. For the neck and jaw muscles, I usually start with LymphaTouch and then continue with manual treatment, for example mobilisation or intra-oral treatment of the jaw muscles. If needed, I return to LymphaTouch at the end. After the treatment, we go through rehabilitative exercises, which are easier to do once the excess tension has been released.

LymphaTouch has clearly increased the impact of my work and made it easier to work with pain clients in particular. Even a single session can bring results in jaw pain (VAS 8 → 4–5), which is usually the reason clients seek treatment. We also see positive changes in reduced jaw deviation and improved quality and range of jaw movement. For example, clicking of the jaw joint decreased or stopped completely, and opening the mouth became easier or the mouth opened clearly wider within a single session. Over a course of 3–4 sessions, given every 1–2 weeks, the frequency of pain episodes has also decreased.

Most often, clients say their jaw relaxes and ‘drops down’ and the feeling of tension eases. On a scale of 0 to 10, I'd give the device a full 10 and recommend it to all my colleagues!”

Jenni Soikkeli, physiotherapist, HE-fysio

Client case

The client had had pain (VAS 4–7) and stiffness in the jaw area for years. She also had stiffness in the hips and pelvic area due to a tight C-section scar, which had made it harder for her to exercise. She attended five 60-minute sessions, with LymphaTouch used for about half of each session.

The aim of the physiotherapy was to increase the elasticity of the scar and to treat the surrounding soft tissue in both the pelvic area and the masticatory system. Each session began with LymphaTouch, focusing on the C-section scar and the hip flexors, and this part ended with muscle energy techniques (MET). The jaw muscles were then treated with the device and manually. The LymphaTouch treatment used negative pressures of 90–180 mmHg depending on the area, together with mechanical vibration.

The client's pain in the jaw muscles decreased significantly, and the quality of jaw movement improved. After four sessions, she reported that her night-time teeth clenching had decreased significantly. The scar tissue and the surrounding area became clearly more elastic, and swelling in the abdominal area went down: the client noticed that her old trousers fit again. Her hip range of motion increased and core activation became easier, which made strength training at the gym easier.

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