Makayla Craft is a witty, upbeat, and hard-working honor student at the University of Iowa.
In January 2025, Craft, an energetic and always-on-the-go type from Ankeny, Iowa, studying nursing, experienced jaw pain she had never encountered.
Struggles eating followed, and Craft’s overall quality of life was thrown a serious curve.
“It wasn’t anything big; no one thing or instance I can recall that set it off,’’ Craft said while receiving Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) treatment from Rock Valley Physical Therapy’s Von Glaser, PT, DPT, Clinic Manager, Iowa, City, Iowa. “I could talk, but I found food really hard to chew. When it happened, I was just looking to understand what was going on and to be able to eat. I was in search of some answers.’’
TMD is one of 30 conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and muscles that control jaw movement. “TMDs” refers to the disorders, and “TMJ” refers only to the temporomandibular joint itself. People have two TMJs; one on each side of the jaw that can be found by placing your fingers in front of your ears and opening your mouth
Craft said there was a type of discomfort she had never experienced when her issue began, and early, alternative attempts to solve it proved unsuccessful.
“My jaw was very locked up, and it was hard to chew,’’ Craft said. “The good thing about all this was when I contacted my doctor, she had an answer for me. I had tried a lot to find relief. I was always stretching and flexing the muscles of my jaw. I tried Botox, but it didn’t work. Nothing worked. Frustration hit its boiling point when I was simply trying to do the normal things. It did not affect my speech, but it did play a part in who I was in that it limited in the things I could do.’’
Craft’s physician referred her to Rock Valley’s Iowa City, Iowa clinic, and Glaser.
“Here,’’ Craft said, pointing to the Rock Valley clinic. “This is where she sent me. I’m so glad I took her advice. The goal was to understand what I was dealing with and to get relief. And this has been wonderful for me. I’ve learned quite a bit, found relief, and found ways to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’’
In February 2025, Glaser, a gifted and compassionate therapist with a professional comedian’s sense of humor, went to work with Craft. The pair proved to be a wonderful team. Craft was motivated, followed instructions in and outside the Rock Valley’s walls, and is back chasing her career dream of becoming a nurse.
In addition to hands-on work with the neck, arms and back, Glaser also dry-needled Craft’s jawline and other facial-related areas to provide the 20-year-old with the relief she sought.
Dry needling is a therapy where a physical therapist uses thin, solid needles to stimulate myofascial trigger points in muscles, aiming to relieve pain, reduce muscle tightness, and improve range of motion.
“We worked a combination of TMD-specific areas and hands-on cervical spine work (neck, and uppermost portion of the spinal column, consisting of the first seven vertebrae, C1-C7),’’ Glaser said. “Then we jumped into some dry needling.
“We concentrated on a couple areas down the jaw line in the masseter muscle is a powerful quadrangular muscle in the cheek region, primarily responsible for chewing and closing the mouth) area, the right bottom of the chin and both sides of the face.’’
In addition to hands-on work in designated areas to provide pain relief and jaw function, Craft says that dry needling played a huge part in bettering her condition.
“Big fan (of dry needling),’’ she said with a smile. “It’s made a huge difference in providing pain relief and helped me to relax.’’
After several weeks of work together, Glaser and Craft maintained a once-per-week maintenance program before Craft returned to Ankeny for summer break.
“All is well,’’ Craft said, noting there are a bevy of exercises Glaser left her with to fend off any issues. Craft is also aware Rock Valley has a clinic in her hometown of Ankeny and several in surrounding cities in the Des Moines corridor. “I’m so grateful for Von and Rock Valley. In addition to his knowledge, he cares about making life better for me and making sure if issues come up that he is here to help.’’
For Glaser, having a motivated patient added to the chances of success.
“It helped Makayla has a medical background,’’ Glaser said. “Though she was unfamiliar with TMD, she was motivated to get better and worked hard and trusted the process. She deserves a great deal of credit.’’
By: Johnny Marx, Rock Valley Storyteller