Maybe you know of the acronym TMJ, but have no idea what is TMJ. Perhaps you’ve heard your doctor mention it but never asked, “what is TMJ?” In case you are wondering what is TMJ, it stands for temporomandibular joint. The human body actually has two TMJs that attach the lower jawbone to the skull. The TMJs are highly complex joints. The term TMJ also refers to the other body parts that aid in opening and closing the mouth. Make sure that you ask your doctor the next time you see him. Better yet, go online and look it up. There are a plenty of resources that deal with TMJ.

You can find your TMJs on both sides of your head in front of your ear. TMJs are flexible joints that allow you to talk, chew and yawn. Your jaw slides in and out of the joint, moving either up and down or side to side. Like other joints in the body, the TMJs have a propensity to conditions that affect the joints, such as arthritis, trauma, dislocations, and others. TMJ disorders are the result when the TMJs malfunction.

What happens when you have TMJ disorder? There are various symptoms that may indicate TMJ disorder. Some of these are head and neck pain, ear pain (in and around the ear), throat pain, bite problems, clicking, grating or popping noise when opening the mouth and chewing, tenderness of the jaw, and difficulty in biting and/or chewing.

Anything that puts pressure on and wears down the TMJs are alleged to cause TMJ disorders. Do you grind your teeth at night? Are you a nail biter? Do you enjoy chewing gum or ice? These are only some of the suspected causes of TMJ syndrome. If you are exhibiting TMJ symptoms, see your doctor to find out whether or not your hunch is correct. They can verify what is going on by evaluating you and your symptoms. If it is, indeed, TMJ disorder, the simplest treatments will address your symptoms. Do not be surprised when you are prescribed anti-inflammatory medicines. Sometimes the application of either an ice pack or a heating pad is recommended.

A very important conclusion regarding TMJ disorders is that stress plays a major role in its occurrence. This is the reason why stress management and counseling is frequently advised to patients suffering from TMJ syndrome. Start exercising regularly. Follow a regular sleeping schedule. Eat healthy. Schedule some time for meditation. Immerse yourself in a hobby that relaxes you. Treat yourself right. Doing all these will definitely help lower your stress levels to reasonable proportions.

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VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. — One of the common complaints I encounter as a dentist is “TMJ.” Patients usually mean that their jaw hurts.

Literally, TMJ refers to the temporomandibular joint, the joint that allows the jaw to move. The sometimes painful symptoms associated with the jaws are called “TMDs,” or temporomandibular disorders, and can be the result of many different things.

The TMJ is considered the most complex joint in the body. It hinges when you open your mouth, slides when you open really wide, and rotates when you move your jaw side to side.

Your lower jaw has a ball on the end called the condyle. This fits into an indentation on your upper jaw called the articular fossa. These two bony areas are connected by a series of ligaments making your jaw, in essence, a ball bearing. If anything goes wrong with the way all these pieces fit together, you can have jaw pain.

More often than not, jaw pain is not related to your TMJ. The number one cause of jaw pain is the muscles that hold your jaws together and allow you to chew. The pain is the result of overusing these muscles through grinding or clenching your teeth.

Fortunately, this is usually routine to treat. Learning how to relax those muscles, stretching them, applying hot compresses and learning the stressors that lead to overworking them can make the pain go away.

The rate of recurrence is very high though, so many people with chronic jaw pain end up doing these exercises forever — the good news is it can take as little as 10 minutes a day.

Another common reason for jaw pain is sinus problems. Anyone who has ever had a sinus infection knows that it makes your teeth and jaw hurt. The good news is when your sinuses clear up, your pain goes away.

This is particularly common in areas like Oklahoma where allergens are plentiful. The best way to treat this cause of jaw pain is to see your doctor and take whatever medications they give you exactly as prescribed.

Occasionally, jaw pain is related to the TMJ, and this is when treatment gets more complicated. The jaw is subject to all the same problems as any other joint — arthritis, fatigue and bone loss to name a few.

The most important aspect of these problems is accurate diagnosis. Dentists have multiple treatments to aid in these cases where the TMJ itself is the problem. Some of these include splint therapy — wearing a custom guard to limit the forces on your TMJ.

Medications to reduce the rate at which the TMJ breaks down and surgical options are available.

The best thing you can do to ensure your TMJs stay healthy is seek treatment early if you think you might have a problem.

Here are a few keys to remember:
· Jaw noise isn’t necessarily a problem — see your dentist if the noise changes or has pain associated with it.
· The best treatment is early and frequent intervention — most of the time without medication so don’t hesitate getting checked out.
· The right person to see is a dentist and expect to get some X-rays taken.

Jaw pain can also be caused by chronic headaches, tooth problems, nerve pain and even a heart attack. If you think you may be suffering from TMD, contact your dentist.

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Constant headaches, or even migraines. A persistent pain in the jaw area. Pain that goes all the way to your neck and around your shoulders. A ringing in your ears. Incredible pain when you open your mouth, accompanied by clicking, popping, or grinding sounds when you open and close your mouth. Any of these symptoms sound familiar to you? Then you most likely have TMJ disorder. TMJ disorder is something we hear about a lot, but don’t even recognize even if we are already suffering from the symptoms.

First of all, what is TMJ disorder? This is a condition affecting the temporomandibular joint, which is located on either side of the jaw. This joint plays an important role, as it works to keep your mouth and jaw operating smoothly. When the hinge is thrown out of alignment, the bones of the joint tend to scrape against one another, contributing to your TMJ pain.

Most of TMJ symptoms tend to be comparatively mild in intensity, but it would be best to address them to ease your pain and work towards a complete solution to your TMJ disorder as well. The first thing you do is figure out how to manage your pain. A good first step would be to apply warm compress to the painful areas, and getting a prescription for painkillers to help the pain go down. You should also carefully monitor how you use your mouth, from your chewing, eating, and biting. Avoid eating tough or overly chewy foods so you don’t irritate your jaw bones further. Take note of your stress levels as well. It has been shown that the more stressed people are, the more they tend to clench their teeth together, creating pressure on the jaws. As a safety precaution, you should also wear protective mouth guards while you sleep, so ensure that you don’t grind your teeth.

Of course, you should also head straight for your primary care physician and let him or her know about your condition. Your physician may be able to recommend an oral surgeon or an ENT who can diagnose you more accurately and prescribe the appropriate treatment. You may need to get an X-ray of your jaws or a bone scan. You may also need to undergo laboratory tests that will determine if you are suffering from arthritis.

TMJ disorder is painful and inconvenient, but when you learn to spot the symptoms, you are well on your way to eliminating the pain. Have the discipline to give your mouth and jaws a rest, and allow your doctor and the prescribed treatments to work with you in finding the right TMJ cure.

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Causes Of TMJ

There are many causes of TMJ, but generally the condition is caused by malfunctioning of the muscles that chew the food, the teeth, and the temporo – mandibular joint. TMJ generally follows trauma, whiplash, stress, teeth grinding, teeth clenching, misaligned teeth, missing teeth, sore teeth, muscle over-use, infection, and some diseases of the joints. The pain occurs when the face and jaw muscles go into spasm. The level of this pain varies from time to time and from individual to individual.

Diagnosing TMJ

It is not very easy to diagnose TMJ. The therapist needs to understand the two inch area just in front of the ear, like the palm of his hand. This area houses the TM joint, sinuses, glands, the middle and inner ears, throat tissues, brain tissues, muscles, ligaments, nerves, arteries, veins, lymphatic tissues, bones and teeth. Most of the times TMJ is encountered in the form of ‘referred pain’! Referred pain occurs when the pain felt in one area of the body has its origin in another area. Like you may visit your doctor for an earache and find out that a decayed tooth is the actual cause of the pain.

Treating TMJ

The TMJ treatment may be done by a family dentist, physician, orthodontist, chiropractor, psychologist or oral surgeon. As TMJ develops when the joints move out of alignment, it causes a bad bite. The teeth do not mesh properly and grinding of food becomes a chore. This poor alignment is bad for the joint, so TMJ patients face difficulty in eating. Chewing becomes a painful task.

There are quite a few dentists who rely upon antioxidants to treat TMJ symptoms. Antioxidants have proven to be very effective for TMJ. Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Omega-3 essential fatty acids, Gamma linolenic acid, and calcium are all helpful supplements in TMJ treatment.

For TMJ to work and be effective a combination of various treatments should be employed. Some TMJ exercises should be incorporated in daily routine. These exercises are easy to do and can be done at home. The TMJ treatment must be holistic and inclusive.

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• Do you find it difficult to open your mouth wide?
• Do you experience any grinding or popping sound in your jaw, while eating or talking?
• Does your jaw hurt when you chew food?
• Do you find it difficult to move your jaw up and down?
• Do you often suffer from headache, stiff neck, and unexplained pain in the eye socket?
• Do you find it difficult to turn your head to look straight over your shoulder?
• Do you grind your teeth at night?
• Do you experience unexplained pain in your upper or lower front teeth?
• Do you experience unexplained pain in your ears?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to even any one of these questions, you may be suffering from Temporo- Mandibular Joint pain or TMJ.

TMJ affects muscles in and around the jaw, mouth, neck, temples, and back of the head. Why do these areas hurt if the pain is in TMJ joint? Well, such pain is commonly known as referred pain. This pain gets referred from the muscles that control the action of the jaw. So the pain is not where the problem area is. TMJ treatment is effective once you know that the referral pain is not the real problem area. The therapist knows how to work on these referral areas to de-activate trigger points and release the pain in the muscles.

Stress plays a major role in TMJ. The lower jaw is one place where a lot of energy gets stored in the adjoining muscles. When we are under stress, we grit and grind our teeth. This action contributes to tightening of muscles and creating a cycle of pain. Sometimes this pain grows into a tension headache, which further increases the tension in the muscles and results in increased tendency to grit the teeth. Thus a vicious cycle is formed. Sometimes the pain just refuses to abate. TMJ exercises play a great role in alleviating this pain. These exercises optimize the healing process.

Sometimes the TMJ pain is caused due to extensive dental work. Soft tissue manipulation given by a neuro-muscular therapist often helps to relieve the pain. He uses low pressure massage techniques to work on the cause of the pain. Some therapists use antioxidants to treat this problem. Whatever be the TMJ treatment employed by your therapist, TMJ is a curable problem.

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1. Do you have frequent headaches (particularly in the morning)?
2. Do you have trouble opening and closing your jaw either occasionally or frequently
3. Do you have ear aches that occur again and again but the doctor can’t determine why?
4. Do sounds make you hurt or do you consider yourself to have sensitive ears?
5. Are your neck and shoulders tense and painful?
6. Do you fight dizziness?
7. Does your jaw/mouth make a clicking, or popping noise when you open it?
8. Do you clench or grind your teeth?
9. Do you have a ringing or buzzing in your ears?
10. Do you feel chronic fatigue or depression?

If you answered yes to anyone of these questions then it would be wise to seek the opinion of a specialist. TMJ pain can be difficult to diagnose, and so these questions are simply a starting point to getting a diagnosis.

There are 4 basic things that cause TMJ pain and so when trying to decide if you have TMJ these factors are important to consider. A problem with growth and development block the nasal passage. Trauma or an accident can cause it, a common example is whiplash. Another unfortunate example of trauma would be that of an especially rough dental experience or dental work that didn’t fit your mouth properly.

Other causes are habits: nail biting, pencil or pen chewing, tooth grinding or clenching the jaw can all lead to TMJ. These habits may seem minimal but they are using the jaw improperly and therefore lead to stain on the jaw joint. Finally a common cause is stress. Mental and emotional stresses are particularly hard on the jaw. Thoughts and feelings seemed to be buried in the jaw. Negative or depressed thoughts seem to lead us to clench and tense up our jaws, which is really hard on the joint.

There are TMJ treatments and exercises your doctor can discuss with you, and there are some guides that can prove very useful. The key is to take action on your pain; if you don’t do anything then your condition will worsen. TMJ in some cases can be avoided and in some cases it cannot, but in all cases it can be treated.

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What Is TMJ?

TMJ refers to a pair of joints that are located below each ear. The joints rotate and glide with the aid of the jaw muscles when we eat, talk, chew and swallow. The joints have a disc located between their ball and the socket and when the joints, disc and the muscles are performing optimally, then only will there be no problem. In case, if any one of them does not function properly, then it may result in TMJ which if gets serious, requires a TMJ treatment such as surgery!

TMJ can be caused due to bad habits such as clenching and grinding of the teeth, changes in teeth alignment, inflammation and arthritis which lead to the malfunctioning of the joints, muscle and joint abuse. Chewing gum, daily, can also cause the disorder. Some people become victims due to an unfortunate blow on the jaws during a fight or an accident that damages the joint or its disc.

TMJ or disorders of the temporomandibular joint (also referred to as TMJ) can cause severe pain that can radiate to the neck and shoulders. People who need TMJ treatment often complain of sore jaws and cheeks. The most common TMJ symptoms include pain while opening and closing the jaw. This can make simple tasks such as eating, swallowing and talking extremely difficult. The patients also find their teeth alignment changed and discomfort in their bite. The disorder may also manifest as chronic headaches, teeth aches, ear pain, ringing in the ears and even hearing loss. Some people hear popping or clicking noises when the open and close their mouths.

Basically, they need to consult a specialist such as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. The medics will conduct a detailed physical examination and study the patient’s medical history to determine the causes of the condition. After establishing the cause, they will assess the condition and then would recommend the suitable TMJ treatment. Over the counter drugs as well as prescription drugs might be prescribed as well, depending on the condition. They may also advise visits to a neurologist and a physical therapist. If stress is the causative factor, sessions with a psychiatrist are also suggested. Surgery is the last option that is exercised for patients seeking TMJ treatment.

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