If you’re experiencing discomfort, tension or pain when you open your mouth, sleep, or chew, you could be living with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). This painful condition involving the joints that hinge your jawbone can be acute, or it can become chronic if left untreated. You don’t have to live with the daily discomfort of TMJ, however. There are several preventative strategies you can implement to avoid or reduce the symptoms of TMJ, too. To help you better understand how TMJ works and to prevent its potential onset, it’s important to turn to dependant dental professionals for advice.
Understanding TMJ: What Causes It?
The temporomandibular joints (also referred to as TMJs), hinge open and close when you eat, chew, and talk. But, when they become compromised by injury, stress, teeth grinding, or even muscle tension, TMJ disorder (TMJD) can soon make itself apparent. This can show up in a position incorrectly in the jaws, causing muscle pain and limitation in movement. TMJ symptoms to look out for include eating restrictions, joint clicking or popping noises, tenderness when eating, tense neck or headaches, and difficulty opening or closing your mouth. Even if you don’t have any of these
Treating TMJ: How to Approach It
Even if TMJ symptoms don’t appear overly distressing at first, any discomfort should never be ignored. This is important to understand because the longer TMJ is left untreated, the more likely it is the symptoms will worsen and become chronic. Most times, the treatment plans of dental professionals require less invasive options, such as physical therapy, muscle relaxers, heat pad treatments, or bite guards to help hold the jaw in a more appropriate position. In addition to these treatments, natural remedies such as herbal remedies, aromatherapy and stress-reduction techniques could be helpful too.
Prevention for TMJ: Strategies You Can Use
Once you or your dentist or healthcare provider determines that TMD is the root cause of your symptoms, there are several preventative strategies you could implement immediately to help manage your symptoms. Some examples include:
• Pace Yourself During Tasks: Often-over zealous yawning or laughter, repetitive jaw movement, or clenching your teeth can exacerbate TMJD symptoms. To reduce the likelihood of that happening, it’s important to try to pace yourself when doing these activities.
• Implement Stress-Reduction Techniques: Not only can being under chronic stress lead to TMJ symptoms, becoming overly tensed can cause the TMJ muscles to tighten up. To avoid this, many people find relief from practicing relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, or other natural stress relief options.
• Focus on Eating Habits: Being mindful of your eating habits is an important part of preventing TMD symptoms as well. Softening your food, avoiding foods that are hard to chew, or taking smaller bites of difficult to chew foods can reduce the strain on your TMJs.
• Implement Proper Posture: Poor head and neck posture contribute to TMJ symptoms by overloading the muscles of the joint. By making efforts to sit up straight, and perform the recommended jaw-care movements, you could reduce further strain.
• Receive Professional Help: If you experience TMJ symptoms that prevent you from participating in daily activities, you should seek help from a dentist or medical professional.
Bend’s Dental Expert Weighs In on Treating TMJ Symptoms
Dr. Gerding is Bend’s leading dental professional—and he and his team understand how impairing TMJ disorder can be. That’s why Dr. Gerding’s team makes it their mission to provide you with comprehensive, compassionate care tailored to your individual needs. They implement a number of preventive strategies and treatment options that include: intraoral appliances to hold the jaw in a proper position, heat pad treatment, muscle relaxants, and lifestyle changes to help you get your TMJ symptoms under control. If you or a loved one need help, please don’t hesitate to contact the office today.