TMJ Therapies and Relaxation Techniques
TMJ Therapies and Relaxation Techniques
If your skull and jawbone are out of alignment, this can cause a misaligned bite and lead to a condition called temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ or TMD). This condition can cause headaches, popping and clicking in your jaw, and make it difficult to eat, sleep and even speak.
TMJ therapy starts by addressing pain with anti-inflammatory medication, heat, and muscle stimulators like Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation(TENS) and ionophoresis. Special oral splints designed to cover your lower teeth and cushion your temporomandibular jaw joint can also help alleviate pain and retrain your jaw muscles.
Reshaping Your Bite
By reshaping your teeth, such as shaving down teeth that are too long and placing dental crowns on teeth that are too short, your bite can be restructured and your TMJ symptoms may be alleviated. If your bite is misaligned because of crooked teeth, braces or Invisalign can move your teeth by their roots into their proper position. Porcelain veneers also provide a faster method of altering your bite, if you do not want to wait months or years with orthodontics.
Alternative Therapies
Some patients have experienced successful relief from painful TMJ symptoms with alternative therapies.
Yoga for TMJ Yoga is very effective for calming your mind and soothing emotional stress. At the same time, it also relaxes your muscles, including the muscles of your jaw joint. The deep breathing and meditation associated with yoga can also help with relaxation, and help you break habits like jaw grinding and teeth clenching.
BOTOX Cosmetic injections for TMJ Botox Cosmetic blocks the nerve signals that cause uncontrollable muscle movements, and works to relax your muscles. When injected deep into your jaw muscles, the injections can alleviate pain and tenderness, improve jaw function and help you open you mouth wide enough to accomplish routine tasks like eating and speaking.
Acupuncture for TMJ Some patients have found TMJ pain relief with acupuncture, which targets the root cause of your pain as opposed to temporarily addressing the symptoms. This is a key difference between alternative therapy and doctors who prescribe pain medications to alleviate the symptoms
Home Exercises
Your neuromuscular dentist may also give you specific exercises that you can do at home to help relax your jaw and retrain your muscles to achieve better alignment. Exercises should often be performed in front of the mirror to help you see the misalignment responsible for your pain. Over time, these jaw exercises can teach you control over your jaw muscles and help eliminate habits of clenching or grinding.
Deep breathing can help relax your entire body. One effective exercise is to open your mouth slowly as far as you can (without pain) and take a deep breath in; then tilt your head back and let the breath out. Now try the same exercise with your head tilted back and as you let your breath out, say "ahhh."
To relieve pain instantly, try pressing your index and middle finger against your cheekbone (under your ear) at the site of your pain. When you feel the slight indentation between the top of your jaw and the bottom of your cheek bone, apply pressure for five to 10 seconds.
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