Head, Neck & Jaw

Gentle, tech-forward care—for the stuff that lives above the shoulders.

Tight neck. Heavy head. Pain between the shoulder blades. Jaw that clicks or clenches. Headaches that seem to live behind your eyes. Most people don’t walk in saying, “I have cervicogenic pain with TMJ involvement”—they just know everything from the shoulders up feels off.

At Timpanogos Physical Therapy, we look at how your head, neck, upper back, and jaw all share the workload, then build a plan around that. We blend hands-on care with modern tools like shockwave therapy, electromagnetic therapy (EMTT), and red / near-infrared light therapy, plus targeted exercise and habit coaching, to help you move, work, and rest with a lot less noise from your body.

We’ve been doing this a long time—25+ years of combined experience—and have safely treated thousands of patients with these techniques.

Problems we see all the time

Headaches & upper-neck tension

“Band” of tightness around the forehead, temples, or behind the eyes
Headaches that start at the base of the skull and wrap upward
End-of-day pressure that’s worse after screen time or driving

Neck & upper-back pain

“Tech-neck” tension from hours at a computer or phone
Stiffness and burning between the shoulder blades
Facet or joint irritation that’s stiff in the morning and sore by day’s end
Neck pain with radiating symptoms into the shoulder or arm

Jaw / TMJ issues

Aching in front of the ear or along the jaw
Clicking or popping when you open, yawn, or chew
Jaw that tires easily with talking, eating, or singing
Headaches that seem to start at the jaw or temple
Soreness that never fully settles after dental work or orthodontics

Urgent signs: “worst headache of your life,” new weakness or numbness, vision changes, difficulty speaking, fever, or head trauma—please seek emergency care first. We’ll be here for the rehab side once you’re cleared.

Why head, neck, and jaw pain often travel together

These areas share muscles, joints, and nerves—and they all respond to how you move, work, breathe, and handle stress. Common culprits include:

Overactive muscles in the neck, upper back, and jaw (clenching, shrugging, guarding)
Joint irritation in the cervical spine or jaw that changes how you move
Posture and workload—long days sitting, driving, or looking down at devices
Breathing and stress patterns (bracing, shallow breathing, jaw clenching)
Old injuries or dental changes that the rest of the system had to compensate for

When we treat these areas as a team, people usually do better than when each spot is treated in isolation.

How we help

We don’t throw every tool at everyone. We pick what makes sense for you, then adapt as your symptoms and tolerance change.

Shockwave Therapy

We use shockwave therapy to deliver short, targeted bursts of mechanical energy—like precise taps—to areas that stay tight and irritable, such as:

Deep neck muscles
Upper-back and shoulder-blade muscles
Jaw and temple muscles that won’t let go

This can help reduce tenderness, ease guarding, and create a better environment for healing and movement.

Electromagnetic Therapy (EMTT)

Electromagnetic therapy uses pulsed magnetic fields over the neck, upper back, and shoulder region to help:

Settle down overworked muscles
Support local circulation
Make motion—especially turning, looking up, or sitting upright—feel less demanding

We often pair EMTT with shockwave therapy when the whole upper quarter feels on edge.

Manual Therapy

Hands-on treatment might include:

Soft-tissue work to the neck, jaw, chest, and upper back
Gentle joint techniques for the cervical and thoracic spine
Work around the shoulder girdle to support a better head and neck position

No intraoral work—we stay outside the mouth and still get a lot done.

Therapeutic Exercise & Habits

This is where change really sticks. We’ll teach you:

Neck and upper-back drills that make upright posture feel natural, not forced
Jaw control exercises for smoother opening and closing
Shoulder-blade and rib-cage work so the neck doesn’t carry everything
Breathing patterns and simple breaks you can use at work, in the car, or at home

You’ll leave with a short, realistic routine, not a 45-minute homework assignment.

Red & Near-Infrared Light Therapy

We often finish with red or near-infrared light therapy over the neck, upper back, or jaw region to support tissue recovery and give the nervous system a gentle “reset” before you head back into your day.

What a plan with us feels like

We listen and test. We figure out what’s contributing: joints, muscles, jaw mechanics, work setup, sleep, stress, or all of the above.
We calm things down. Early visits usually focus on lowering pain and sensitivity with a mix of shockwave, EMTT, and hands-on care.
We free up motion. As irritation eases, we restore motion where it’s stuck—neck, upper back, jaw, shoulders.
We build you up. We add strength, endurance, and control at a pace your body can handle.
We aim for staying power. You’ll leave with a simple plan to keep your wins—tailored to your work, family, and hobbies.

No copy-paste protocols. Your plan changes as you do.

Why experience matters (briefly)

The tech itself—shockwave, EMTT, red light therapy—is just the hardware. Results come from how it’s used:

Where we aim
How we dose
When in your recovery, we introduce it
How we pair it with exercise and habit changes

After thousands of head, neck, and jaw cases, we’ve developed a strong sense for those nuances. If you’ve tried other care or even shockwave before without much change, it may just be that the target, timing, or follow-through weren’t quite right.

FAQs

Can this help with migraines?
We’re especially effective with tension headaches and neck-origin (cervicogenic) headaches. If you also have migraines, we’ll coordinate with your medical provider and focus on reducing the neck and jaw contribution to your overall headache load.

Do you treat just the jaw or just the neck?
We can, but we rarely treat only one. Most patients do best when we address the head–neck–jaw–upper-back system as a whole.

Will this hurt?
You might feel some “good work” soreness with shockwave or hands-on treatment, but we adjust everything to stay in a tolerable, productive range. EMTT and red light are typically very comfortable.

Do I need imaging or to see a dentist first?
Not always. If your exam suggests imaging, dental input, or referral to another specialist, we’ll let you know and help you coordinate. Many people start with a PT evaluation and build the team from there.

Ready for your head, neck, and jaw to stop running the show?

You don’t have to live around tension, headaches, and jaw pain.
Book an evaluation with Timpanogos PT, and we’ll build a clear, realistic plan to help your head, neck, and jaw work together again—so you can focus on your day, not your pain.