Janey Prodoehl, PT, Ph.D.

Dr. Prodoehl is a physical therapist working to understand abnormal movement control and movement dysfunction in individuals with chronic movement problems and the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions for those populations. She has a specific interest in understanding the persistence of pain in individuals with cervical and orofacial pain and understanding how postural and movement dysfunction may contribute to the development of, or persistence of, pain in these individuals. She is currently leading the development of a national Clinical Practice Guideline for the diagnosis and management of temporomandibular disorder sponsored by the American Physical Therapy Association.

Theme 1: Orofacial pain, neck pain and headache can be separate problems, but they often occur together. Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is one cause of orofacial pain and headache that can lead to movement problems including pain with eating, sleeping, talking, yawning, or problems simply maintaining normal jaw or head posture. The overall objective of this line of research is to examine the movement problems associated with TMD and neck pain and headache and to develop effective treatments for these problems. We have a multidisciplinary team of researchers including physical therapists, dentists, speech language pathologists, exercise physiologists and osteopathic physicians that examine different facets of the problem. We utilize three dimensional motion analysis, electromyography, and electroencephalography to examine postural and movement dysfunction in individuals with TMD and headache with an ultimate goal of developing effective interventions for patients with these problems.

Theme 2: Motor control and movement dysfunction in individuals with other forms of musculoskeletal dysfunction. The core of physical therapy practice is movement. The overall objective of this line of research is to expand and enhance the body of knowledge at the core of physical therapist practice. This includes the effect of pain and postural changes on movement control.
Orofacial pain, neck pain, and headache
Posture and movement control
Myofascial pain