The Temple Massager
Say hello to a non-invasive, non-drug, complementary alternative to medicine device that does one wonderful thing extraordinarily well. The temple massager relaxes the facial muscles, and that’s a big deal.
Corroborated anecdotal data indicates the temple massager was useful as a drug-free distractor and a calming mechanism in both post-combat and hospital settings.
Fund raising will help our company with manufacturing , data collection, donations and logistical needs so we can serve the communities of:
Service members
Veterans
First Responders
Woman's shelters
Combat Army soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait have reported:
“The Temple Massager was used as a natural form of combat stress relief.”
Service members in recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center reported:
“The Temple Massager acted as a drug free distractor.”
Veterans across the U.S. have reported:
“That Temple Massager stops me from thinking and for that I am grateful.”
Background
In September of 1997, I was nearing the end of my military career as a Combat Engineer and college student and was under heavy stress. I started to develop pain in my lower jaw area, began to poke and prod at my facial muscles with my sunglasses, and decided that I needed to buy a temple massager immediately. But such a device did not exist. Realizing the potential in the product, I spent years developing a prototype and in 2008 received a patent. As I was working on this project, the men and women I had served with were being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Seeing the stress they were under I hoped the Temple Massager would help them and other veterans to relax. Over the next 11 years, I gave away 2,800 of them. Now, with unprecedented stress in the workplace, we're making the Temple Massager available for everyone.
The Impact
TMD
What is TMD? Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are disorders that arise from problems with the occlusion (the contact between teeth), jaw joint, and surrounding facial muscles that control chewing and moving the jaw. Symptoms include: clicking/popping sounds in the jaw, jaws that get 'stuck' or 'locked' in the open- or closed-mouth position, difficulty chewing, and swelling/pain/tenderness in the face.
When using the Temple Massager for relieving the facial muscle tension relating to TMD it is important to use the small single massage tip and apply a small amount of non scented lotion to the skin in front of the ear to reduce and prevent skin friction irritation.
Focusing the massager tip close to and around the TMJ joint is most effective while letting the mouth hang open, the muscle is engaged if the mouth is closed so practice massaging while remembering to leave your jaw open and not engaged. Having your mouth open is the best way to massage into the TMJ area and under the cheek. Also massaging around the top area of the ear and around the Temple area is good too. Massaging the entire area but more specific to the area in front of the ear is best.
Intrusive Thoughts
The Temple Massager, as described by Doctor Mark Abramson Adjunct Professor Stanford University School of Medicine founder of the Mindfulness based stress clinic, is stimulating critical areas of the head such that the users awareness shifts from daily thoughts or intrusive thoughts to the massage and aromatherapy stimulation thus breaking a person out of reoccurring intrusive thoughts of past trauma. This bad loop memory can cause an increase of adrenaline and cortisol which are powerful stress hormones that can cause harm by keeping a person at constant vigilance or hyperawareness when they are not actually in harm’s way.
For a person to now have a small lightweight tool to instantly stop these intrusive reoccurring thoughts is a new way of approaching mental health. Based on thousands of years of temple massaging, aromatherapy and acupressure the Temple Massager was designed to deliver Holistic practices or also known as CAM therapy (Complimentary Alternative Medicine.) in a drug free and noninvasive manner.
If a person has been exposed to any trauma in life, military or not, bad stuff is bad stuff no matter who you are. You could have these reoccurring thoughts haunting you. The creator of the Temple Massager suffered from these thoughts when a fellow soldier drowned in training. He has used the Temple Massager to disrupt these reoccurring thoughts which gets you out of that mental rut.
Headaches
The Temple Massager was designed to relieve the user from holding up and engaging the neck, shoulders, arms and hands so you can get a personalized pressure adjusted targeted massage at little effort. Keeping the facial muscles relaxed is recommended by Dr’s to prevent and relieve facial muscle tension that can lead to tension headaches caused by stress.
Massaging the entire area of the side of the head is important to relieve muscle tension that can lead to tension headaches. We recommend the tri-point massage tip for this. Focusing the massage tips around the top of the ear and around the temple area is best, it is important to remember to let your mouth hang open. If you allow your jaw to hang open the facial muscles are not engaged and you will get more out of massaging a limp or not engaged muscle than keeping your mouth closed which engages the facial muscle. Breathing deep is critical as you massage. Some people including the creator of the Temple Massager who suffers from migraine headaches likes the lights out while lying down and in a quiet area.
Calming
Here is how to use the Temple Massager to calm and relax.
Make yourself comfortable preferably laid down or sitting in a reclining chair. If you don’t have that just sit or lay down anywhere and open the massager arms so they are about head width apart then push the Temple Massager arms over your forehead and then adjust the pressure to your desire and begin to move the Temple Massager around your temple area. Move the massage tips all around the ear and jaw. All the while you breathe deeply.
Be Mindful, stop thinking, let the stimulation of massage and aromatherapy be your total awareness.
The Data Doesn't lie!
Temple Massager. Inc. is currently undergoing pre-clinical trials with Polytrauma Systems of Care VA Palo Alto, Ca and Stanford University School of Medicine to test the efficacy of the Temple Massager in mild and moderate Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients who suffer from headaches.
In addition to the data forthcoming from these studies, Temple Massager has years of anecdotal data from surveys, user feedback, and questionnaires conducted at CalState Hayward University, Marines at 29 Palms and the storied Camp Pendleton. Results from these sources are exceptional.
Temple Massager has been invited to present our abstract at the 2017 2018 Stanford School of Medicine Neuroscience Forum, 2017 2018 Palo Alto, Veterans Administration TBI Forum and most recently the Military Health Systems Research Symposium.