TMJ stands for the “temporomandibular joints” that are located on either side of your jaws. They are responsible for movements like opening and closing your mouth, chewing, and talking. When your temporomandibular joint becomes injured or overused, it can cause jaw pain and clicking. This condition is known as TMJ disorder. Below are some methods to help for relief.
Rest Your Jaws
Some doctors recommend avoiding chewing gum and teeth grinding to try to relieve TMJ disorder symptoms. Sometimes, TMJ disorder can be alleviated by simply resting your jaw muscles and joints. Over time, your jaws can return to normal.
Excessive gum chewing and pressure on your jaws can cause TMJ disorder flare-ups. Eating soft foods, eliminating gum chewing, and preventing teeth grinding can all aid in treating these flare-ups.
Jaw Stretches
Physical therapists recommend performing jaw stretches to relieve the pain and pressure on your temporomandibular joints. You can massage and stretch your jaws on your own at home to prevent TMJ disorder symptoms.
Your physical therapist can show you different jaw massages and stretches to perform to ease your TMJ disorder symptoms. Once the muscles around the joints are relaxed, it will likely be easier to move your jaws.
Medication
Many over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications can help ease the symptoms of TMJ disorder. TMJ disorder symptoms tend to flare up when overuse of your jaw muscles causes inflammation around the joints.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can decrease inflammation and provide temporary symptom relief. If your TMJ disorder symptoms do not improve with jaw stretches or rest, this might be a good option.
Mouth Guard
Your doctor or dentist may recommend wearing a mouth guard at night to prevent your teeth from grinding. Teeth grinding at night is the cause of a lot of people’s TMJ disorder symptoms.
You may not even realize you are grinding your teeth in your sleep. Most mouthguards allow your jaws to rest in a specific position and prevent you from putting pressure on them.
Alternative Treatments
Some emerging medical treatments, like stem cell therapy and hemp-based treatments, can help with the muscle pain associated with TMJ disorder. These therapies treat the inflammation and damage in the muscles around your temporomandibular joints. These muscles can become inflamed and overused easily, especially if you chew a lot of gum.
This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine. Regenerative medicine has the natural potential to help improve symptoms sometimes lost from the progression of many conditions.
