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A lot of people experience chronic jaw pain. This can be due to stress, posture, clenching/grinding, a recent dental experience, or a host of other factors. Sometimes it is “all of the above”.

Often this pain is felt at the side of the jaw, right where the joint is. It’s usually more severe on one side. And quite often this jaw pain is associated with pain in the upper part of the neck, jaw clicking, or with stress headaches. A typical case of TMJ pain will also have recurrent headaches and neck pain, with tenderness and muscle pain at the top of the neck where the skull and neck muscles come together.

Quite often people know what the problem is: stress. Maybe you’re one of the people who can’t seem to get your shoulders to relax and feel like you’re always carrying tension in your shoulders. That same muscular tension, and emotional stress, turns into jaw pain soon enough.

Just like that jaw pain and dysfunction is the result of excess tension, the way to address the problem is by working to reduce the tension.

Emotional tension: it’s out of your chiropractor’s control, for the most part, to regulate your emotional response to triggering events and circumstances of your home life, your kids, your job or relationship. But talking to your chiropractor can sometimes be enough to start to make that tension melt away. As we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives, just having someone listen to you and discuss things can go a long way to getting past something that is bothering us. Maybe you don’t even know something’s bothering you but then you talk about it and identify the problem.

Physical tension: this is definitely something your chiropractor can address. Whether it be work posture or ergonomics or a physical injury to the jaw (like a long visit to the orthodontist or dentist, or some other oral task), the muscles and the joints involved in opening and closing your mouth can be worked on at Park Bench.

A typical therapy session for the TMJ involves a few things.

1. Upper cervical chiropractic adjustment – this is aimed at relieving the pain and pressure in the neck that co-occurs with jaw pain. This can also go a long way to alleviating tension headaches.
2. Manual therapy for the muscles of the jaw and neck – this targeted trigger point and massage work can be uncomfortable, especially if your jaw already hurts, but firm pressure at specific muscles combined with some gentle jaw movements can significantly decrease pain levels quite quickly.
3. Advice on continuing care at home – stretches, exercises, or simply “cues” to help you keep things copacetic. Quite often if you can retrain yourself to notice when you are engaging in an unhelpful habit, maybe your clench your jaw when you use the computer, then you can stop those things before they cause pain. Or maybe you just need to recognize when stress is getting the better of you and learn to let it roll off instead of internalizing it.

If you think your jaw could use some work then give us a call or stop by today and chat with us. At Park Bench we are experts in manual therapy and in treating joint disorders.

Sports Injuries

A lot of people don’t realize the variety of conditions chiropractors are able to treat. Not only do we adjust the joints of the spine at our office, but we also adjust the extremity joints, including the:

• Shoulders
• Ribs
• Knees
• Hips
• Ankles
• Elbows
• Wrists

While not all injuries would benefit from an adjustment to the corresponding joint, many injuries or conditions do respond well to mobilizing the joint and performing therapies like targeted stretching or trigger point/manual therapy massage to the associated muscles. Both Drs. Matt and Rob are proficient in evaluating injuries to the arms and legs and can order x-rays or MRI’s when needed.

If you are suffering from an injury or simply looking to become more fit with the help of chiropractic then you should set up and appointment today. Give us a call!

At Park Bench Chiropractic we welcome patient who have suffered injuries from car accidents.

Everybody at some point in there life is probably going to get into an accident. Whether they are “rear-ended” or “T-boned” or some other type of crash, the physical pain and the headaches that follow can be persistent and aggravating. Sometimes these issues take weeks or even months to resolve. The amount of physical force being transmitted through the occupant of a vehicle in a collision is quite significant. Soft tissue injuries to the supporting structures of the neck and back are very common. Without proper care these injuries can become chronic and difficult to resolve. It is for that reason that early and consistent treatment is vitally important.

If you’ve been injured please give us a call. Our front desk staff will take the time to guide you through the claims process and will file all your medical claim forms on your behalf. Should you have an attorney we will work hand-in-hand with them to ensure a smooth process. Should you not have an attorney but want one, we will recommend an upstanding attorney with integrity whom specializes in car accident claims.

Whether your issue is whiplash, headaches, post-concussion problems, numbness or tingling to the arms or legs, neck or back pain, or something else…you can be well-served by coming to our office and seeing what we can do for you. In many cases we will order x-rays or MRI’s to assess the stability of your spine or the extent of your injuries. As with all clients we offer a complimentary 20-minute consultation if you want to come in and chat to see if Park Bench is right for you.

Both chiropractors at Park Bench are certified to perform physical therapy, so we will utilize modalities like heat/ice, stretching, muscle stim/TENS, and manual therapy to compliment the chiropractic treatment. No matter the complexity, severity, or simplicity of your case we will provide you with attentive and appropriate care. Our goal for all of our car accident clients is for them to return to feeling how they felt before the crash.

If you’ve had imaging (MRI/x-ray) performed at the hospital already, please let us know. We will take into account those films and reports when we evaluate you.

Most drivers have something called Personal Injury Protection as part of their car insurance. That provides you a pool of money (between approximately $2,500 and $5,000) that has been supplied by your premium payments in order to cover your medical expenses in the event of a claim being filed for an automobile crash.

Give us a call today to get started. We can usually get you an appointment within a day or so.

At Park Bench Chiropractic we welcome women in all stages of pregnancy.

A lot of things – such as pelvis shape, baby positioning, pre-existing lower back, and hip pain or sciatica issues – can all mean that chiropractic care is necessary for a better pregnancy.

A lot of people also don’t understand that chiropractic is safe for pregnant women. In fact, chiropractic is completely natural and is one of the few reasonable solutions to the type of pain many women experience before they give birth.

If you are enduring pain in your back or hips, sciatica, piriformis syndrome, headaches, neck pain, or another issue then please feel free to call us and set up a free consultation with one of the chiropractors. Either Dr. Matt or Dr. Rob will be happy to chat with you for about 10-20 minutes and answer any questions you may have. If you have questions or concerns then bring them with you and let us know.

Here’s a summary of some of the great reasons to make chiropractic a part of your pregnancy routine:
• You shouldn’t be putting most drugs/medicines into your bloodstream while pregnant
• Full hip and lower back mobility from chiropractic adjustments helps with labor
• Your nervous system will appreciate pressure being removed from lumbar and sacral nerve roots
• Chiropractic adjustments feel great

If you’re interested then get in touch. We look forward to meeting you.

JULY 1, 2020

Hola, amigos!

We are now leaving the door unlocked. Our waiting room, for the first time since the pandemic started, may have more than one person in it at the same time. To accommodate that reality we have moved chairs 6+ feet apart and, sadly, blocked the kids’ play area.

Anyone worried about COVID can rest assured we are not taking your concerns lightly.

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MARCH 21, 2020

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If we ever need to close the office or otherwise provide an update to patients regarding our business you can find that information here.

MARCH 14, 2020

GLOBAL PANDEMIC EXTRAVAGANZA!

We are, as of today, still planning on remaining open for normal business hours. We are keeping everything clean and disinfected. If you are feeling less-than-healthy please cancel your appointment. We will update Facebook if anything changes. So long as things remain as they are, which is cautious social-distancing and no spike in local cases, we will do our best to keep things moving.

FEBRUARY 7, 2018

Lots of ice on the roads. Rob is in on time but please feel free to cancel if you don’t feel safe driving this morning. We’re here and things are running normally, but do be careful!

We are committed to making you feel at home and welcome in our office. Even more importantly, we are committed to making sure you are in the right place. After all, some cases which seem like chiropractic cases are actually things which are better handled by a different healthcare provider. A consultation is a good chance to come in and throw a million questions as us.

Quite often we can answer all your questions and we can comfortably say that you will be well-served by starting care at our office. Other times we will suggest you visit a different type of doctor.

The consultation will last about 10-20 minutes. We will bring you back to a private room and sit down with a pen and paper and ask numerous questions about your condition or your health concern. We will do our best to get to the bottom of the problem and identify what is going on. You should come into the consultation with your own set of goals, too. We will be trying to learn about your issues, and you should be trying to learn about us. Do not hesitate to ask us anything, we aren’t shy.

If this sounds good to you then give us a call!

If you are coming in for your first appointment you can save a lot of time by filling out your paperwork at home and bringing it in with you already competed.

You can find the new patient intake form here.

You can find our packet of papers you need to sign here.

If you are having issues filling out these forms then you may need to DOWNLOAD/SAVE the .pdf files to your computer first.

Both of these documents are in PDF format. You can get the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software here.

After filling out the forms you can email them to our office as an attachment if you prefer.

First, you will walk in the door and get greeted. We do our best to give a warm welcome to everyone who comes in our doors! After filling out some paperwork you will be brought back into the exam room.

The first thing we do after we head into a room is spend some time talking to you about what brings you to our office. We will ask some questions and, more importantly, do some good listening. A good interview with the patient, and some active listening, usually spells out pretty clearly what needs to be looked at during the physical exam, and quite often some small facts arise during this process that help illuminate the problem.

The physical exam can take anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour. Some problems are more complex then others, and some people have extensive lists of injuries or issues to work through. We will do some gentle poking and prodding, examine your range of motion, see what parts of you hurt and what causes them to hurt, and document our findings in your chart.

Following that discussion and exam, we will do our best to explain the problem and outline a plan. Many cases can be accurately diagnosed right then and there, and if that’s the case we will lay out what we think we can offer you, how long it should take, and what to expect. After we iron out those details we get right down to the business of making you feel better and making your body work better. We normally begin treatment at the first visit.

Interested in learning more about us or making an appointment? Call us today.

Welcome to our website. By clicking on the links on this site you can find out a good deal about us and about chiropractic. But that is just the first step on your way. We have an open-door policy when it comes to offering private consultations to anyone considering chiropractic care at our office, so call and put aside some time to meet with the doctor and get your questions answered. At Park Bench Chiropractic we welcome your questions and want to make you feel at home with us.

It’s easy to get started at our office. Just give us a call at (301) 378-0334 and make yourself an appointment. You may want to get some information ready for us before you call, such as:

• Insurance information (Insurance Co. and Member ID) – insurance not required
• Your ideal time for an appointment (1st office visit takes about 60 minutes)
• Any questions you may want answered…

If you just want a consultation, that’s OK. Let us know when you are calling. A consult takes 10-20 minutes and a full new patient office visit takes an hour. If you schedule a consult be prepared with whatever questions you want answered.

The new patient visit is the most time-consuming you will ever have at our office, and this is because we will be asking you a lot of questions and then performing a physical exam. This is important to find out what went wrong and how to go about fixing it. Some people come in with straightforward cases and others come in without any idea how they hurt themselves. We will take the information we get from this first visit, decide if chiropractic can help you, and then start you on a treatment plan that addresses your concerns and gets you on the way to feeling better.