TMJ The Hidden Disorder
Discover Cosmetic Dentistry Looks At TMJ
TMJ is a very complex and difficult condition that can disrupt your life, due to the pain and associated muscles in the jaw area. The difficulties that are thought to cause TMJ such as anxiety, and stress can worsen when pain becomes intolerable, so let’s look at some ways to help you deal with your TMJ.
TMJ Disorder
The temporomandibular joint is arguably the most intricate joint in the human body.It’s the only joint which both articulates (hinges) and translates (slides). Temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ, is a blanket term describing chronic inflammation of the temporomandibular joint, which connects the jaw to the skull. Numerous persons feel clicking or popping of their jaw when yawning, chewing, or even just talking. The condition is considered TMJ disorder when there is pain. In more severe cases, TMJ disorder can include headaches and neck pain.
Many individuals with TMJ syndrome suffer from chronic stress. Clenching of the teeth, biting nails, and grinding teeth at night can cause or exacerbate the condition. In these cases, treatment approaches as wide ranging as psychotherapy, meditation, and wearing a bite guard at night have been shown to provide TMJ relief.
For several years I suffered TMJ on my right side, partially ascribable to grinding my teeth at night, and in part resultant of mostly chewing on the right side of my mouth. The pain was severe enough that if I slept on my right side, the next day that side of my face was too painful to touch.
My dental practitioner commented that my molars on my left side displayed unusual wearing. The overdevelopment of the muscles used to clench the jaw shut causes the bones in the joint to pinch down on the bursa, a small sac. One simple, highly effective exercise involved pressing my fists underneath my jaw, and gently opening my job against the resistance created by my hands.Inside a couple of weeks of day-to-day practice, the pain was for the most part eradicated.
I personally caution against the more common recommendation of a soft diet, as decreased activity can lead to further deconditioning.
Even as symptoms of TMJ can be misidentified as earache or impacted wisdom teeth, TMJ is occasionally misdiagnosed as originating from impacted molars. As with any medical condition, diagnosis should be left to a professional, as the same pain symptoms could be indicative of a serious abscess or deep infection.
The rising field of neuromuscular dentistry is pertained to the particular issues causing a TMJ disorder. A neuromuscular dentist focuses not only on proper alignment of the teeth, but proper function of the joint and muscles.
As pain relievers such as acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are generally have only short-term effectiveness in treating TMJ pain (which is often neuralgic in nature), low doses of tricyclic antidepressants such as Amitriptyline and Nortriptyline are sometimes prescribed for pain modification.
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Tags: - Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, jaw pain, neuromuscular dentistry, tmj dentist, TMJ exercises, tmj treatment, what is tmj
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