How to Relieve Your TMJ Pain

Your temporomandibular joint, also known as TMJ, is the hinge joint connecting your lower jaw to the temporal bone of your skull. If you put your hand on your cheek then open and close your mouth, you can feel the joint directly in front of your ears. Temporomandibular disorders occur in patients who grind or clench their teeth, dislocate the soft cushion in the joint or experience rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. Temporomandibular disorders can cause TMJ pain, but here are options to find relief.

Instructions

1. Apply hot and cold therapy to your TMJ. Begin with an ice pack on your face in the area of your TMJ, leaving it there for about 10 minutes. Open and close your mouth for several minutes to stretch your TMJ, then apply a warm washcloth to your face, leaving it there about five minutes. Perform this several times a day to relieve your TMJ pain.

2. Choose soft foods as part of your diet. Yogurt, cottage cheese, fish, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, soup and cooked fruits and vegetables are great, healthy alternatives you can add to your diet. Cut your food into small pieces so chewing is easy to accomplish. Hard, crunchy foods that require you to open your mouth widely can aggravate your TMJ pain.

3. Take over the counter aspirin or ibuprofen to help relieve muscle pain and swelling that sometimes accompanies temporomandibular disorders. If your TMJ pain is a result of grinding or clenching your teeth, ask your doctor about taking anti-anxiety medications to help you relieve stress. Muscle relaxers prescribed by your doctor can also help relax your tight jaw muscles.

4. Wear a night guard, a plastic mouthpiece that covers your upper and lower teeth. The night guard keeps your teeth from grinding against each other at night, lessening the TMJ pain you feel. If you have problems around the clock, ask your doctor about a splint. You only wear night guards at night, but you can wear a splint 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

5. Stimulate the area to lessen the pain. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation uses low-level electrical currents on the TMJ to provide pain relief. Ultrasound treatment can relieve TMJ pain and improve mobility. Radio wave therapy helps increase blood flow to the TMJ by creating a low-level electrical stimulation to the joint.

6. Consider surgery. If all other options fail, your doctor may consider surgery to help you relieve TMJ pain. The three different types of surgery are arthrocentesis, arthroscopy and open-joint surgery.

References

• U.S. National Library of Medicine
• eMedicineHealth