ABOUT US

From Neurohealth Chiropractic,, Steven Cannon is a chiropractor and musculoskeletal acupuncturist based on the northern beaches. Over the years Steve has increased his knowledge base to encompass many different skills and techniques to help maximise the optimal health potential of his clients. He has worked in Ireland with the Clare hurling team to the Moulin Rouge dancers in Paris.

As a chiropractor, he works in the realm of proprioceptive chiropractic. Proprioception controls and manages the way we are able to move and it also regulates our muscle tone. Without proprioception we would not be able to walk, talk, eat, jump, land, run and laugh. It is a combination of nerve input and output that means we can walk across uneven ground, flinch if prodded unexpectedly, and to pull away from a hotplate.

The Temporomandibular joint (otherwise known as TMJ or Jaw Joint) and teeth of the human body have high levels of proprioception. Researchers from Adelaide have looked at the gradually increasing pressure on the teeth as opposed to tapping the teeth. They demonstrated that this increased proprioceptive input from pressure causes immediate facilitation of the masseter muscle.

Hence if there is too much or too little tone in the muscles surrounding the jaw, a problem will develop. This can lead to muscle weakness, causing instability and muscle unbalance. This is called a functional weakness. This functional weakness can be something as simple as chewing or swallowing.

Therefore having disorders of the TMJ can cause an individual's posture to change. They start to typically display forward head posture, with chin protrusion and hyperextension of the cervicocranial junction. This dysfunctional movement of the TMJ can lead to the upper cervical spine extending repeatedly, during everyday activities of the jaw. This increased repeated stress to the muscles and vertebrae; especially surrounding C1/2 causes the area to spasm and produce pain. This can lead to nerve irritation and overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system (Fight, Flight or Freeze), which involves problems such as anxiety, hypertension and digestive disturbances.

Working with Dr Charlotte to rehabilitate the TMJ, we are able to remove the interferences on the nervous system and calm the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn balances the autonomic nervous system leading to a state of optimum health.

References:
Friedman MH, Weisberg J. (2000) The craniocervical connection: a retrospective analysis of 300 whiplash patients with cervical and temporomandibular disorders. Cranio Jul; 18(3): 163-7.
Rantanen, T. (2003), Muscle strength, disability and mortality. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 13: 3–8.doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0838.2003.00298.x
Skaggs C., Liebenson C. (2000) Orofacial pain. Top Clinical Chiropractic 7(20):43-50
Slemenda CW, Heilman DK, Brandt KD, Katz BP, Mazzuca SA, Braunstein EM, Byrd D. (1998). Reduced quadriceps strength relative to body weight: a risk factor for knee osteoarthritis in women? Arthritis Rheum 41:1951-9
Slemenda C, Brandt KD, Heilman DK, Mazzuca S, Braunstein EM, Katz BP, Wolinsky FD. (1997). Quadriceps weakness and osteoarthritis of the knee. Ann Intern Med 127:97-104.
Suter E, Herzog W. (2000). Does muscle inhibition after knee injury increase the risk of osteoarthritis? Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 28(1):15-8]
Turker KS, Miles TS.(1989) Surface EMG.Force and single motor unit data for inhibitory reflex responses in human masseter at two levels of excitatory drive. Arch Oral Biol 1989;34(9):731–7
Turker KS, Brodin P, Miles TS. (1994)Reflex responses of motor units in human masseter muscle to mechanical stimulation of a tooth.Exp Brain Res 1994;100(2):307–15.