Are you affected by persistent discomfort in your jaws? You may experience jaw pain, headaches, challenges opening your mouth wide, locking the jaw when the open or closed-mouth position, and even clicking, popping, and grating sounds in the TMJ joint when opening or shutting your mouth. The discomfort affects your quality of life to make you wonder what is wrong with your jaws. Instead of pondering about what the problem is, you benefit if you seek TMJ treatment in Bayside to overcome the discomfort.
TMJ disorders are problems affecting your jaw joints besides their surrounding muscles and ligaments. You may be a disorder victim because of an improper bite, arthritis, or regular wear and tear. The common symptoms of the disorder include tenderness in the jaw, headaches, facial pain, and earaches. Do not consider the problem as minor, significantly if your quality of life is affected. TMJ disorders occur when the ligaments and muscles around the jaw joints are inflamed or irritated. You may have an acute or chronic disorder causing mild to severe pain in your jaws. Therefore it helps if you seek treatment for the condition from TMJ treatment 11361.
What Is a TMJ Disorder?
TMJ disorders are problems affecting the temporomandibular joint, and the term TMJ is merely an acronym for the joint. Your lower jawbone connects the TMJs to your skull to assist in movements like speaking and chewing.
What Causes TMJ Disorders?
Injuries to the jaw joints and surrounding tissues can cause TMJ disorders. Other reasons for TMJ disorders include bruxism, arthritis in the TMJ, stress, improper bite, and acute trauma. TMJ disorders are common among people aged 20 to 40. For some reason, women are affected by TMJ disorders more than men and need TMJ treatment in Bayside, NY, more frequently.
How Are TMJ Disorders Diagnosed?
Dental checkups most frequently help diagnose TMJ disorders. During your regular visits, your dentist examines the range of motion, asking you to open and shut your mouth, press on your face and jaw to distinguish areas of discomfort, and feel around your jaw joints when you open and close your mouth. Besides a physical exam, dental x-rays also provide a comprehensive overview of your teeth, jawbone, and temporomandibular joints. If required, you are recommended CBCT scans and MRI scans to view your facial anatomy comprehensively.
TMJ Treatment for Temporomandibular Joint Disorders
TMJ treatment near me recommends simple self-care practices and conservative treatments than injections or open surgery. Experts agree TMJ treatment must begin using conventional methods and nonsurgical therapies. Surgery is always regarded as a last resort.
If you are diagnosed with a TMJ disorder, TMJ treatment, NY, recommends conservative methods to treat the condition. The specialist may suggest using the therapies recommended combining more than one at the same time to relieve the pain. Some of the treatments the specialists recommend are mentioned below for your reference:
- Apply My Heat or Use Ice Packs: You can use an ice pack on the sides of your face and the temple area for 10-minute intervals you have acute pain. Include a few stretching exercises for your jaw as recommended by the provider. After completing the activities, apply a warm towel on the side of your face for approximately five minutes and continue this therapy a few times every day.
- Eat Soft Foods: You must not stress your jaw by working it over time and prefer to eat soft foods like yogurt, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, soup, cottage cheese, fish, eggs, et cetera. You must avoid crunchy and complex foods besides chewy foods and chewing gum.
- Medications: If you experience pain and swelling, you can try over-the-counter painkillers, or the specialist can prescribe other drugs for pain relief. If you clench and grind your teeth, you find comfort from muscle relaxants because they can help relax tight jaw muscles. If the TMJ disorder results from stress, the specialist may prescribe antianxiety drugs in low doses to help reduce or control pain.
The specialist also recommends that you change habits like resting your chin on your palms on hand or holding your telephone between your shoulder and ear. You can try keeping your teeth slightly apart to relieve pressure on the jaw. You can learn relaxation techniques to help control muscle tension in the jaw joints.
Some TMJ symptoms have factors beyond your control, like the way your bite fits together. However, you can reduce the risk of TMJ symptoms by practicing good posture, wearing a nightguard if affected by bruxism, practicing relaxation and stress reduction techniques, and wearing a mouthguard if included in contact sports.
TMJ disorders are not life-threatening but undoubtedly affect your quality of life. You can find relief from the problem by seeking TMJ treatment near you for comfort from the disorder.
