TMJ massage in Edmonton for a jaw that won't let go
If your jaw pain builds by evening, or you wake up clenched, it often starts in the muscles. We work your jaw, temples and neck for relief, a short drive from St. Albert.
It starts as a dull ache in front of your ear. Then you catch yourself clenching at your desk, in traffic, in your sleep.
Clenching you only notice afterwards
Perhaps your partner hears you grinding at night. Or you wake with a sore jaw and a tired face before the day has even started, and by afternoon the ache has climbed into your temples, where tension headaches have become part of your week.
TMJ massage is hands-on treatment for the muscles around your jaw joint, and for the temples and neck that work with them. Your registered massage therapist eases the tight, tender spots with steady pressure. In studies of people with temporomandibular disorders (TMD), this kind of manual therapy reduced jaw pain and helped the mouth open wider.
The muscles you chew with
Your therapist works the thick muscle at the side of your jaw and the one fanning across your temple. Clenching tires these two out first.
You feel it as a yawn that no longer catches, and more jaw mobility when you eat.
Something for between visits
You leave knowing when you tend to clench, and with a simple self-massage to use at home.
What can TMJ massage help with?
TMJ massage suits jaw pain from tight, overworked muscles, and the problems that travel with it: clenching at night, a jaw that tires halfway through a meal, and headaches that start at the temples.
Clicking without pain is common, and our post on why your jaw clicks explains where it comes from. If your jaw locks or your bite changes, see your dentist first.
So you have company. And you have more than one place to go for help.
Three places to start
A dentist checks your teeth, your bite and the joint itself, and fits a night guard if you grind.
A physiotherapist assesses how the joint moves and gives you exercises to retrain it.
A registered massage therapist works the tight muscles themselves.
When to see your dentist first
Book with your dentist before you book with us if one of these is true:
your jaw has locked open or shut
the pain started after a fall or a blow to the face
your bite feels different than it used to
Those need a look at the joint and your teeth. Once your dentist has ruled them out, come and see us.
When massage is the right first call
If your jaw aches after long days, if you clench when you’re stressed, if you wake with a sore face and a headache already forming behind your eyes, the pattern points to the muscles.
That’s where we start.
What a course of TMJ treatment looks like
Your first appointment starts with questions. When does it hurt? Do you clench? How far does your mouth open before it catches? Then your TMJ massage therapist starts where your answers point.
Expect a few tender spots. Your therapist eases off whenever you say so, and the tenderness usually fades as the muscle lets go.
Between visits, the work is noticing, and over a few weeks you’ll start to catch yourself clenching at the wheel or halfway through a hard conversation. Let your teeth part. Drop your shoulders.
Do it every time you notice, and your jaw has less to undo by your next visit.
What happens when you book TMJ massage
Book the time you want
Thirty, sixty and ninety minutes all book online, and you can pick a therapist by name or select all of them to see every opening the clinic has that week.
Tell your therapist what has changed
Pressure and focus start from what you tell us rather than a routine, and your therapist says what they are finding while they work. You hear it as it happens.
Book the next one before you leave
Before you leave, we can put your next appointment on the calendar, and our own booking page will tell you the current week may already be full.
Come a few minutes early your first time, because there is a short health history to fill out, and filling it in the waiting room spends the hour you booked on paperwork instead of treatment on the table.
You know what the hour will involve, what it costs, and when you are coming back.
I followed Brittany from one clinic to this one and it was such a good decision. She's awesome! I always feel so relaxed and pain free after I leave.
Vanessa HennesseyGoogle review
Just saw Brittany for the first time today and had a wonderful experience. Her pressure was perfect for me and she hit all the spots I requested. I look forward to returning.
Tao PingGoogle review
they are all great
I trust Nadine
found muscles I didn’t even know existed
the best that I have ever had
the best I’ve had yet
I haven't seen anyone else since
I limped in, and coasted out
Experts at finding knots
going to Nadine for over 20 years
Why choose Got Knots for TMJ massage
Every therapist here is registered
Clinic-wide membership with the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada means the receipt you hand your insurer is the same document whichever therapist you book, and the hour you get is held to the same standard.
Ten percent off six sessions, fifteen off twelve
It is a discount you buy once and spend as the sessions come, instead of a monthly fee you have to remember to cancel.
A+ with the Better Business Bureau since 2015
Eleven years with no lapse and no downgrade, on a rating anyone can check.
What does TMJ massage cost?
Most people book 60 minutes, which is $115.50 plus GST. Thirty minutes suits your jaw on its own. An hour gives your therapist time for your neck and shoulders as well, and the neck is part of the treatment. If you aren't sure, book the hour.
All rates shown before GST
Session
Price
30 minutes
$73.50
60 minutes
$115.50
90 minutes
$157.50
Direct billing to 30+ insurance plans
We bill your extended health provider directly, so you only pay the part your plan doesn't cover, and the card we keep on file isn't charged until your insurer has paid its share. We can bill your primary plan only. If your plan needs a doctor's referral for massage, send it to your benefit provider before your appointment, not to us.
Alberta Blue Cross – Sun Life – Canada Life – Telus Health (Manulife, Canada Life + 20 more) – Medavie (incl. Veterans Affairs & RCMP) – Green Shield
Nadine Munro has been a Registered Massage Therapist since 2000 and founded Got Knots in 2009. Every therapist on our team is an RMT with at least 2,200 hours of training, and together we've treated more than 4,300 clients since the clinic opened.
It takes one to a few sessions, depending on how long your jaw has hurt. A recent flare often settles within one or two visits. Pain you’ve lived with for years usually takes more, closer together at first and further apart as the change holds. Your therapist will tell you what they expect after the first appointment. By then they’ve felt your jaw.
Start with your dentist if your jaw has locked, the pain followed an injury, or your bite has changed. Otherwise a massage therapist is a sound first call, because the most common kind of jaw pain starts in the muscles. Many people see both.
Yes, massage eases the sore jaw muscles that clenching and grinding leave behind. It won’t stop you grinding in your sleep. A night guard from your dentist protects your teeth, and massage looks after the muscles.
During a flare, give your jaw a rest. Skip gum and hard or chewy food, cut what you eat into smaller bites, and try not to open wide when you don’t need to, even for a yawn. Keep your chin off your hand at the desk. And tell your therapist about anything that makes the pain spike.
Usually, yes. Plans that cover massage by a registered massage therapist cover TMJ massage therapy too, because it’s booked as a massage appointment. We handle direct billing wherever your plan allows it, so call 780-455-7160 if you aren’t sure what yours covers.
A knot can send pain well away from where it sits. Each one is found by touch and held until it releases, so the spot and the ache it causes both ease.
Pain that sits deep tends to come back. Slow, sustained work reaches the muscle layers a lighter massage never gets to, with the depth set to what your body will take that day.
One problem and a clear goal. Instead of a full-body routine, the hour stays on the area that's bothering you and whatever is pulling on it, toward a change you'll notice the next time you reach or turn.
Find us at 13220 St Albert Trail NW #104 — right on the commute between downtown Edmonton and St. Albert. Open Monday through Saturday, with direct billing to most major benefit plans.
Serving north Edmonton and the St. Albert corridor
