How to Treat Your TMJ Disorder?
Have you found it difficult to chew or speak painlessly? When you open your mouth, does your jaw click or pop? How do you get from your face to your neck about migraines, ear-pain, or discomfort?
These symptoms can all indicate problems with your TMJ and the muscles that control it. These hinge-like, gliding joints connect your jaw to your skull on either side of your face near your ears, allowing you to open and close your mouth. When there is problem and it seems hard to treat, visit a maxillofacial surgeon in OKC.
Know the Disorder
Like the other body joints, TMJ’s and muscles’ support are conditioned and affected by certain diseases. Physicists bundle these problems into a single category which we can call TMJ (TMJD) or TMJ.
The conditions associated with TMD are as follows:
- Dysfunction in the face muscles, ligaments especially the joint controllers
- Joint injury like dislocated jaw
- Degenerative arthritis
Your TMJ discomfort may be connected with these conditions, one, two, or all three. This can make diagnosis more difficult because the intensity, frequency and location of the disease may vary widely.
TMJ’s Symptoms
TMJ symptoms may have one or both joints and may include: depending on the underlying problem.
- Facial muscle pain or stiffness
- Migraine
- Pain in ears
- Discomfort radiating down the neck
- Popping or clicking in any jaw movement
- Jaw locking
Diagnosis
Your health care provider or dentist or maxillofacial surgeon will talk about your symptoms and check your jaw.
Therapy
- Anti-inflammatory and pain relievers – If pain medications are not sufficient for over-the-counter pain relief, your doctor or dentist may prescribe stronger pain relievers, such as ibuprofen for prescription power, for a limited time.
- Tricyclic antidepressant agents – These medicines are mainly for depression, such as amitriptyline, but sometimes used in low doses for pain relief, bruxism, and sleeplessness.
- Muscle relaxants – Sometimes these kinds of drugs are used to treat pain caused by TMJ disorders due to muscle spasms for some days or weeks.
- Physical therapy – treatments can include ultrasonic, moist heat, and ice, along with exercises to stretch and strengthen the jaw muscles.
- Avoid excessive jaw muscle usage – Eat soft food. Cut food into small pieces. Stick away with sticky or chewy food. Avoid chewing gum.
- Massage and stretching – You can ask your physician, dentist or therapist how you can exercise and strengthen your jaw muscles and massage yourself in the muscles.
Visit us at Oral and Facial Surgery of Oklahoma. Dr. Wooten in OKC will help you through the TMJ diagnosis, symptom healing, and pain-relieving.
**Disclaimer: This site content is not intended to be medical advice nor establishes a doctor-patient relationship.
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