Cynthia Peterson's Blog
April 16, 2018
Myofunctional Therapy? What is it? & Why is it important?
I will be sharing the answers to this and more in a series of articles on Myofunctional Therapy with the latest greatest evidence…coming soon!
Wish I could also share a sample of my sister’s cookies. NY Times ranked #1 chocolate chip cookie recipe. You have to let the batter sit overnight to soak in the flavor of the chocolate chips. Hoping the awesome information I share will be just as good after soaking in the evidence and valuable information.
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July 13, 2017
Healthy habits 101…You’ve got this!
Replace those hurtful habits with the healthy ones I describe in my book.
They are easy to remember with the PoTSBTLC acronym and logo.
At the center of every habit are 3 central components:
a CUE- try a sticky note or alarm
a ROUTINE- link it to a regular activity like washing your hands or walking thru a doorway
a REWARD- relish in how good you feel or fill a jar full of marbles and celebrate when it’s full
Instant gratification can stop us from getting the things done that we need to. We procrastinate tasks until the last possible second to get instantly gratified but we need to forgive ourselves for procrastinating and break our projects into more manageable bite size chunks.
1st healthy habit could be breathing in and out through your nose day and night!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/smarter-living/this-is-how-you-get-stuff-done.html
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July 7, 2017
Open Bite? It could be Idiopathic Condylar Resorption!
An anterior open bite can have many contributing factors. One very troubling cause is when they bony condyle or
top of mandible in the TMJ starts to disappear for no clear reason. Thus it is called “Idiopathic
Condylar Resorption” or ICR. This research link showed that 25 of the 27 females with ICR in the study had low levels of 17β-estradiol. This could be associated with taking birth control
pills. If you are a female with an anterior open bite and on “the pill”, you may want to get your 17β-estradiol checked.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889540609008142
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May 16, 2017
Secrets of Super Sleepers
How to sleep well, especially as you age
This has some fabulous pointers for anyone who wants to sleep better, so I wanted to pass it along. Enjoy!
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Dizzy? A Self-Treatment
Vertigo Self-Treatment Video by Carol Foster, MD
Dizziness or vertigo has many causes. I recently found myself feeling dizzy when looking down to work on patients. I made sure I was hydrated and tried treating my sternocleidomastoid muscles which I discussed in a previous blog. These helped but I came across this video and gave it helped, so I wanted to share.
Always check with your medical provider. This is a rather intense self-treatment and could flare or be problematic for some people.
Wishing you health and happiness!
Cynthia
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February 16, 2017
Muscle Mania: MASSETERS (TMJ, Tooth & Facial Pain, Ringing in the ears)
The masseter muscle (superficial masseter highlighted here) can cause pain in the upper and lower jaw, molar teeth, the TMJ’s, eyebrows and ears and can even cause ringing in the ears known as tinnitus.
Never fear! There is hope. First, be a detective and with the tips on page 147 figure out which hurtful habits such as mouth breathing, clenching and chill stress that may be making the masseters unhappy.
Calm the masseter muscle with a few simple exercises such as the blowfish on page 148 and orbiting on page 77-78. I find a lot of success with intraoral massage and release techniques and use Dry Needling to release those stubborn masseter trigger points.
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January 26, 2017
Airway is king! Check yours today.
If you can’t breathe…nothing else matters. The majority of patients I see with jaw problems, headaches, neck pain and most mouth breathers have underlying airway issues. A quick way to screen yourself is by assessing your Mallampati or Friedman classification score.
A Mallampati score is taken by sticking out the tongue as far as possible while breathing through the mouth. If the uvula and back of the throat are fully obstructed from view you score a Class IV. In a healthy airway you typically can see the full uvula dangling in the back of the throat which would score a Class I. Click on Wikipedia to see pictures of the various classifications.
You can improve your airway by learning the principles in my book.
Breathing in and out through your nose day and night. This is one of the greatest things you can do for your overall health.
Sealing the lips and gently suctioning the front 2/3 of your tongue to the roof of your mouth whenever you are not talking or eating.
Many of the exercises in The TMJ Healing Plan are also helpful in improving the airway.
In fact, a well respected meta-analysis showed that oral exercises, therapy and habit changes like those listed above can improve Obstructive Sleep Apnea by 50% in adults and 62% in children. Sleep apnea, snoring and sleep disordered breathing are critically important to address. A sleep medicine specialist and oral myofunctional therapist can help. Check your airway today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallampati_score
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January 17, 2017
Mouth breathing hurts your posture, breathing biomechanics and your exercise capacity
A 2011 Study inJournal Brasil Pneumologia found that “Respiratory biomechanics and exercise capacity were negatively affected by Mouth Breathing. The presence of moderate Forward Head Posture acted as a compensatory mechanism in order to improve respiratory muscle function.”
So mouth breathing hurts your posture, breathing biomechanics and your exercise capacity. Here is a link to some interesting mouth breathing stats. https://www.breatheright.com/sleep-better-tips/mouth-breathing/facts.html
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January 10, 2017
Headache type and medication guide
Headaches a problem? Happy Tuesday! I am attaching this information packed headache guide to help you better understand your headache type. While it does not describe the simple self-care tips in my book, it can help you understand your headache type/types and has detailed information about headache medication and their side effects in words you can easily understand. Very insightful! Spoiler…Rebound headaches from medications are quite common and often overlooked. This guide is produced by the University of Utah Clinical Neurosciences Center. Be empowered and enjoy!
https://healthcare.utah.edu/neurosciences/docs/headache-guide.pdf
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January 3, 2017
PoTSBTLC Rap: Healthy habits for your head, neck and jaw!
Happy New Year! My goal is to post something that will help, lift or inspire each Tuesday. I am starting with a fun rap video my kids help me make when I first wrote my book The TMJ Healing Plan: Ten Steps to Relieving Headaches, Neck Pain & Jaw Disorders
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