Rocabado exercises vs. Myofascial Release: Comparative effects in patients with Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of Rocabado exercises and myofascial release on pain and jaw mobility in patients with temporomandibular joint dysfunction.

A single-blinded, randomized clinical trial was conducted with thirty participants included by using convenient sampling technique.

The study settings included physical therapy out patient departments of Allied Hospital and Madinah Teaching Hospital, Faisalabad. The participants were blinded of the treatment given to them.

The participants having age 18 to 30 years with mild to moderate temporomandibular joint dysfunction according to fonseca questionnaire and mild to moderate pain levels on numeric pain rating scale with restricted mouth opening were included in the study. the subjects with the history of any recent surgery, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) hypermobility, severe osteoporosis, unhealed fracture of mandible and advanced diabetes were excluded.

There were two interventional groups named as group A (Rocabado exercises) and group B (Myofascial release technique). The participants of group A received a set of six exercises named as Rocabado exercises as a treatment. These six exercises included rest position of tongue, shoulder posture correction, stabilized cervical flexion, axial extension of neck, controlled TMJ rotation and rhythmic stabilization technique. The participants of group B received myofascial release technique as a treatment approach which included the myofascial release of masseter and temporalis muscles.

The main outcome variables were severity of dysfunction, pain, functional limitation and mouth opening range of motion.

Randomization process was done using chit and draw or lottery method. Thirty chits were made in order to allocate the participants in both groups. Thirty chits were made and with every participant coming, one chit was drawn and it happened in a way that all even numbered chits were allocated into group A while all odd ones into group B.

The treatment techniques used in this study are soft tissue techniques out of which one was manual and the other was exercise based. Both groups received a baseline treatment in which therapeutic ultrasound was used so the groups were similar and comparable in order to blind the participants. The groups were homogenous at baseline i.e. of same age group and of similar levels of pain and severity of dysfunction. The interventions in the two groups were sufficiently similar in terms of implementation without the use of any kind of insttument in either group.