What Is TMJ Disorder?

Published on: 05 July 2021 Last Updated on: 13 September 2024
TMJ disorder

TMJ disorder is one of the most common temporomandibular joint problems people of all ages face, such as tooth pain. But tooth pain is not just caused due to dental issues. While cavities or gum diseases are the most likely causes, sometimes they can also be caused due to joint disorders.

Your jaw bone can disjunction causing immense tooth pain and leaving you unable to eat properly. This is known as Temporomandibular Joint Disorder(TMJ disorder). TMJ disorder causes pain in surrounding areas of the jaw bone, including your teeth. So we reached out to Dr. Michael Nussbaum, a TMJ dentist in Austin, Tx, to find how to manage this disorder.

What Causes TMJ Disorder?

What Causes TMJ Disorder?

The temporomandibular joint is a joint that connects your lower jawbone to the skull. It is present on both sides of your face and enables the jawbone to move. So it is integral for activities like chewing and talking as you cannot open and close your mouth without the joint.

The TMJ disorder occurs when the joint doesn’t work properly. It causes pain around the jawbone areas and can affect your facial expressions and ability to speak, eat or even breathe.

Stress is one of the most common causes of TMJ disorder. 

It forces people to grind or clench their teeth which causes tenderness and immense pain. It can also be caused due to arthritis, erosion of TMJ joint, dental treatments, or structural jaw problems present since birth.

How To Manage And Treat TMJ Disorder?

How To Manage And Treat TMJ Disorder?

The TMJ disorder causes a dull ache around your jawbone area which can extend up to your ears, especially while chewing or speaking, which can make day-to-day life quite difficult. You will also feel the clicking and locking sound of the jaw bone along with some muscle stiffness.

Sometimes, the pain and discomfort go away on their own in a few days. But if it persists, treating it at the earliest is essential. 

Since there is no standard test to diagnose the problems, the dentist will use x-rays, CT scans and discuss your symptoms to find the correct diagnosis.

Can The TMJ Disorder Be Treated At  Home?

Can The TMJ Disorder Be Treated At  Home?

TMJ disorder is easily treatable at home. If you are currently facing these types of tooth pain. The deep-rooted cause may be arthritis joint pains. Your dental health does not have any connections with the pain. 

Some people who have all okay healthy gums and healthy teeth are experiencing traumatic pain in the tooth due to TMJ disorder. Routine change and sleeping posture change effectively minimize the pain in the tooth in TMJ.

Usually, TMJ disorder can be taken care of at home with some easy tips:

  • Avoid eating hard food items and try to eat softer foods instead.
  • Apply ice or cold compress to the jawbone area to numb the pain.
  • Try to minimize grinding/clenching of teeth and keep jaw movements to a minimum.
  • Practice stress-busting activities like meditation, yoga, exercising, etc.
  • Do facial exercises to help improve jaw movement.
  • Use a mouthguard at night to prevent grinding.

Along with this, your dentist will also prescribe pain relief medications to help ease your discomfort and reduce swelling in the jawbone. Stabilization splints may also enable proper jaw movement. And in some cases, corrective surgery may also be suggested to treat TMJ disorder.

Based on your particular situation, your dentist may recommend the best course of treatment to treat TMJ disorder.

If you live in Austin and have immense pain in the teeth/jaw area, you can visit Dr. Michael Nussbaum at his Austin dental practice 360 Dental Care. His entire team provides excellent care to help ease your discomfort and improve your oral health. So book a consultation at his office right away!

Conclusion:

TMJ disorder has no connections with your dental and tooth health. However, the daily routine changes and schedule changes are pretty compelling to minimize the pain. Most patients suffering from these types of problems are treated in their homes according to the doctor’s prescribed routines and schedules. In addition, changing the lifestyle and some particular exercise is helping to minimize joint pain and relieve pain due to TMJ disorders.

Read Also:

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

View all posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

baby sleeps

Things to do before bed for a perfect night’s sleep

Good sleep is usually described as how a baby sleeps. A baby is likely to enjoy quality sleep because they have no worries or anything that could hinder that perfect sleep. However, as you grow up, sleep quality tends to deteriorate because of different factors associated with adulthood. It is very important to have enough and good sleep as it has a significant effect on your body in terms of health and general activeness. You need to adopt the habit of sleeping early and having uninterrupted sleep time for about 7-9 hours every night. What should you do before bed to have a good night's sleep? Tidy your room. Study shows that people with clean and decluttered rooms tend to sleep better than those whose rooms are untidy and unkempt. Make your bed, fold your clothes and keep your room in order. Finish up your daily chores. Once the day is over, you should have finished everything you had planned for that day. Wash that blue cantilever umbrella you had planned to by the end of the day. By doing so, your mind will be able to relax when you get into bed. Eat dinner early. Most people will have their meals so late in the night that they end up sleeping late. It is better to eat early so that you can give the food time to digest. Doing that will actually help you sleep better. Make your bed comfortable. This includes changing your bedsheets into clean ones and getting the right sized pillow and mattress. You should also get s blanket that will shield you from the cold at night and is soft to your body as well. Take a warm bath. This helps to cool off your body and prepare it for sleep. Bathing with warm water will get your body temperature going down when you step into the cool bedroom from the shower. That helps induce sleep. Set the room temperature. You do not want a room that is too hot to sleep in or too cold that you cannot sleep. Regulate the temperature to what you feel is comfortable for you. Organize your thoughts. Going to bed with a lot of unorganized thoughts will keep you up for hours. Make sure you write down anything disturbing you and try to find a solution before you can sleep for better sleep quality. Switch off electronics. Things like phones, laptops, and TV should be switched off 2 hours to sleeping time. The blue light produced by these gadgets is not so good for your eyes when you want to sleep. Eat cherries. As I said, you should not eat right before bed. However, you can snack on some cherries as they are natural sources of melatonin which is a sleep-inducing hormone. Block any light from outside. You could switch off your electronics but there is still light coming from the outside. Total darkness is the recipe for sleep. Use dark and heavy curtains to block any light coming from the outside. Read a book. This is a good way to spend the last minutes before bed. Make sure the book does not require a lot of intellectual engagement and neither is it too exciting to take away your sleep. Listen to soothing music. There are people who cannot sleep in total silence. If you're one of these people, get some soothing music and play it in low tones right before you sleep. Spray some lavender scent into your room. Lavender is associated with having a calming and sedentary effect on you. It will help you sleep much faster and better. Conclusion : Don't deny yourself the opportunity to sleep better by ignoring some of these things that are necessary for a good night's sleep. In fact, these things are very easy to do and they can have a tremendously positive effect on your sleep life. Observe each one of them and make it a routine before you go to bed. Within a month or so, your body will have adapted to the change and you won't have to keep a reminder anymore. You'll be doing these things naturally. Invest in good sleep and your body will thank you for it. Make sure that everything is done to your preference for an easy time. Read Also : 5 Ways To Make A Big Statement In Small Bedroom 3 Tips On How To Plan The Best Cheap And Fabulous DIY Bedroom Makeover 5 Innovative Ideas To Lend Your Bedroom With More Space

READ MOREDetails
Chronic Illness

Ways to Emotionally Deal with Chronic Illness

Getting a diagnosis that you have a chronic illness can be devastating. You start blaming yourself for your actions, but you also worry about what could happen to the people you love if you do not get well soon. Apart from the physical pain, you might also have to deal with the emotional trauma that comes with it. These are some techniques to help you cope with the emotional burden of having a chronic illness. Allow yourself to slow down: We now live in an age and time where everything seems to be moving quickly. When you know that you have a chronic illness, permit yourself to slow everything down. You might feel the need to rush because everyone around you is quick, and you might feel guilty if you are unable to cope. However, since you already have an illness, you cannot let yourself suffer from undue stress when you can control the situation. Give yourself more time to sleep if possible, and when you have time to relax, you need to drop everything else that you are doing. Write everything you feel grateful for: When you are ill, it might be easy for you to forget the good things happening around you. Therefore, it helps if you start writing everything that you want to be grateful for, even the smallest things. You can also set a day when you treat yourself or go out with your family because you are thankful for the gift of life. Take the opportunity to do other things: When the pain is too much for you to bear, and you end up staying at home, you might feel terrible. You might think that you are useless as you are unable to provide for your family. Instead of looking at things that way, you can use it as an opportunity to do the things you failed to do before because you were too busy. Use your free time to read books or watch TV series, or ask your friends to come over if they have time and catch up. Be with people who make you feel well: It also helps to be around people who love and understand you, as they will be there by your side during the most challenging situations. Let go of your toxic relationships since you could end up feeling more terrible than you already do. Face your illness: You do not feel well right now because you keep worrying about your health. Instead of being too anxious, you can face the problem head-on. If you do not have enough funds to pay the medical bills, you can start raising funds online. If you do not think your medicines work you can look for alternative options, so, for instance, you could try CBD vape oil UK retailers if you want to attempt something new. The CBD oil may or may not work for you, but there is no harm in trying it; you can ask your doctor if it is safe for you. The point is that you should not allow your illness to defeat you. Sometimes, the emotional pain that comes with being physically sick is more painful. You need to manage how you feel and come out a better person. Read Also: The Disturbing Trend Of Multiple Chronic Medical Conditions Need To Get Something Done? Here Are 10 Tips On How To Get Motivated For Anything

READ MOREDetails
trampoline

Go Trampolining to have Fun and Maintain your Fitness

Many researchers have proved how trampolining has a variety of benefits to the body. Study after study has long proved how rebounding or jumping on trampolines brings peak fitness and keeps one healthy. Even a NASA study testified all these things in a way back 70’s. Given so many benefits, it’s important to take a peek into rebounding and understand what makes it one of best workouts around. In fact, it becomes important to understand what makes jumping on a trampoline one of best workouts invented ever. Beneficial than jogging or running Yes, it’s true that jumping brings three times more rewards than what your regular jogging or running activities do. What’s more, it’s easier and more fun at the same time. Jogging or running causes a great deal of physical stress on lower feet and limbs which are not the case with jumping. A 10-minute bouncing is equal to 30-minute running Yes, it’s true that a 10-minute bouncing is equal to 30-minute of running on a regular basis. You can see the difference and can also gauge why more people now take to trampolining than ever before. So, you should do it more often to save time and gain more benefits. Boost to metabolism Studies have proved that trampolining has a big impact on metabolism. A lot has to do with the involvement of muscles and their contraction and relaxation. In a way, you can jump on a regular basis and have a superior metabolism than you do have currently. More oxygen to the body Try jumping on trampolines for a few minutes and see the results. What did you see? You will experience a surge of energy into the body and you will feel like energized. How did that happen? It happens as more oxygen reaches to the body when one jumps. More oxygen means more supply of blood to the cells, which makes us feel energetic on an immediate basis. Immune system Studies have proved that trampoline has a big impact on the immune system. It means, your regular jumping can keep you away from diseases and illnesses. This happens because the circulation of the lymph gets a boost. Which means more lymph flow into the body which takes toxins out and boosting the immune system. Muscles and bones The best thing about rebounding is that it involves almost all the body muscles and bones. It means, when we do jump on a trampoline, muscles come into play and they also get some well-deserved workouts. In a way, firming and toning of the muscles takes place and bones too get strengthened to keep the body healthy. Mental Health Rebounding on a trampoline helps in the release of mood-enhancing chemicals – endorphins. This is a major reason for one feeling happy and alert while jumping. More so, this increased level of alertness means superior grasping of things and events. This also helps with learning. In all, rebounding has a positive impact on your mental health. Simplicity and convenience Rebounding has to one of the easiest and simplest exercises around. You can do it anywhere and anywhere. All you need is to put a small trampoline at some corner of the home, or out in the open, there you go. In terms of fun, simplicity, and convenience, you won’t find any other exercise coming close to jumping ever. In a nutshell, you should visit a trampoline park quite often in the hope of joining best fitness classes Leeds. There, you can mix fun and fitness together and have a great time. So, plan your weekend and take your kids and family where they all find something Fitness Classes Leeds to have fun with. Read More: The Relationship Between Oral Health And General Health Top 5 Life Hacks Of Dealing With The Symptoms Of Menopause Top 4 Natural Combination For You To Eliminate Blackheads (Infographics)

READ MOREDetails