Can you cure tmj without surgery

Most exercises are focused on relaxing the muscles of your neck, your shoulders, and your jaw. Tension in any of these can worsen TMJ pain. If your dentist identifies "trigger points" for your TMJ pain trigger points are areas of muscle that are prone to causing you pain , she may recommend that you see a massage therapist for help in loosening these muscles.

Avoid motions or activities that cause pain to your jaw. Also, eating softer foods can help, as this decreases the stress and strain of chewing. Pencil biting, pipe smoking and other repetitive movements and positions such as with playing certain instruments like the violin or viola are also thought to be associated with TMJ.

Opt for foods such as oatmeal, eggs, mashed potatoes, soups, and other options that are gentle on your jaw in order to decrease the pain. Focus on good posture. Especially for those who work at a computer all day, getting up to move around and changing posture frequently is important. TMJ problems can be worsened by tense neck and shoulder muscles, which happens frequently to those who are poised over a computer keyboard all day.

If at all possible, break up your workday by scheduling in a walk or other activity every couple of hours. This will give your neck and shoulder muscles a chance to relax, and may help to ease the discomfort in your TMJ.

In addition, pay attention to sleeping positions. Sleeping on your side or stomach may put pressure on your jaw, exacerbating TMJ pain. Try to sleep on your back instead, and don't elevate your head too much. Apply heat to relax your jaw muscles. Applying heat can increase the blood flow to your jaw muscles and help to relax them. Start by taking a warm, moist towel and place it on the side of your jaw. Apply the towel for five minutes or until you feel increased comfort.

You can apply this warm, moist towel four to five times in a day. This procedure can help relieve discomfort and increase jaw flexibility. Use ice packs to help relieve pain. Applying ice packs can reduce the inflammation and pain by constricting the blood vessels around your TMJ.

Use a cold pack, take a plastic bag and fill it with ice cubes, or simply keep a towel in your freezer and apply it on your jaw and face. Apply it for 10 minutes each time, four to five times per day. Always wrap cold packs in a towel before applying them to your skin.

Putting ice or a cold pack directly on your skin can cause frostbite. Massage your jaw area to relax your muscles. Give yourself a gentle massage with your fingertips to relax your jaw muscles and to provide relief from muscle tightness. Take two fingers and apply firm pressure with your fingertips over your jaw area. Move your fingertips over the jaw areas in perpendicular and small sweeping motions.

Always be gentle to avoid further problems and pain. Get physically active. Exercise produces endorphins, which are natural pain-killing chemicals in the brain. As a result, maintaining a healthy exercise regime can help to combat the pain in your jaw. A general guideline to follow is to do moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 30 minutes at least five times per week, or minutes total.

Ideally, you want to choose sports that elevate your heart rate such as swimming, biking, speed walking, or running. In addition to aerobic exercise, try to incorporate two to three days of strength training, which will build muscle and improve bone density.

Method 2. Take over-the-counter painkillers to reduce mild to moderate inflammation and pain. Using over-the-counter painkillers can inhibit the production of prostaglandin, the substance responsible for pain and inflammation in your body.

Do not take these drugs continuously for longer than 10 to 14 days. Any of the following can be tried for pain control: [8] X Research source Peterson, L. You must also start living on a soft diet, to spare your teeth from putting in too much pressure to bite on something, as this directly puts pressure on the TMJ. Custom-made splints are made to be fitted over your lower or upper teeth. These splints act like a cushion between your teeth and prevent you from clenching or grinding your teeth.

This puts enough rest on the temporomandibular joint and helps it recover without much hindrance. Once the pain subsides, do not stop using the splints immediately. Use it for two or three more days to help the joint completely recover.

To prevent tension on the recovered joint, live on a soft diet for a few more days before returning to your regular routines! Physical therapy involves appropriate exercises for the joint.

Exercises like chin tucks, tongue up, forward jaw movement and resisted closing are few of the exercises that help immensely. It is mostly worn at night and it will take the strain off of the jaw muscles that tend to clench and strain the TMJ. Over the counter splints are available at an affordable cost, however, the one provided by our Somerville dentist will fit much better and last far longer. Neuromuscular dentistry exists to correct bite misalignments and produce a balanced bite.

Our dentist will do this by using special equipment to evaluate biting patterns and muscle movements. However, some sufferers deal with pain, swelling, and a myriad of other issues on an ongoing basis. This discomfort often prompts many to visit their doctors for treatment options. However, without any long-term clinical trials to study the safety and effectiveness of surgical treatments for TMJ disorders, surgery is not recommended. Luckily, there are less invasive fixes for TMJ.

If you want to alleviate the symptoms of TMJ without the surgery or pain medications , chiropractic treatment is an all-natural option you have at your disposal. This can cause a jaw to track improperly, pop, crack, or lock. We have gentle ways to address and correct jaw alignments that make every day tasks like eating, yawning, and opening our mouths a pleasure.

In addition to jaws misaligning, our spines are the central system for all of the nerves in our body. Because of the way our nerves communicate with our brain, a misalignment in the spine can cause us to notice symptoms in other areas of the body—including the jaw. If a spinal misalignment also called a subluxation is contributing to your TMJ symptoms, a series of gentle, chiropractic adjustments can realign the spine—allowing the body to work optimally and alleviating, or even eliminating, TMJ symptoms.

Another major contributor to TMJ is stress.