Category: Health and Wellness
Hi all,
For the last week or so I've been experiencing some jaw pain. The pain hits when I'm chewing something or when I ipen my mouth to yawn. Sometimes I feel a little click. The weird part is that it's only on my right side. What do you think it could be. thanks for the help,
Leslie
I'm not a doctor. But I got this from google search. give it a try?
TMJ pain is often caused by too much contraction of the muscles in the jaw and their effects on their relationship with the temporal mandibular joint. Constant contraction causes inflammation and displacement in the temporomandibular joint, causing pain. To reduce the amount of tension in the muscles that is caused by habitual contraction due to stress, pain or ill fitting dental work, one must regularly stretch those same jaw muscles. The stretch is very simple to do and takes just seconds, but it is difficult to explain without demonstration.
Let me try to explain: First, open your mouth and jaws to as wide as they will open comfortably. Second, place the full length of your index finger along the tops of your bottom front teeth, along four to six of them. Third, at the same time, press down with your finger onto the tops of your teeth and up with your teeth into your finger, creating opposing pressure (use only medium pressure; the tmj is a delicate joint) for about six or seven seconds and then relax the jaw. Fourth, gently open your jaw slightly wider and repeat this three times. Each time that you first tense and then release your muscles, it will allow your mouth to open slightly wider, which creates a gentle stretch of your jaw muscles. This will release the pressure on your TMJ allowing it to fit together properly.
Do these stretches before bed, upon waking and once during your day, every day until your pain is gone. Do this stretch whenever pain reappears. If it is due to dental problems, get dental attention even if your pain stops; it means that you need some adjustments or repairs.
A growing cause of TMJ pain is stress due to daily living: the economy, family death, moving or losing a home, credit card debt, failed relationships, etc. Just hang in there and keep stretching to manage your pain in joints. Also, try a warm pack or cool pack, or both. Take a warm, relaxing bath or enjoy a hot tub or swim as often as possible for stress reduction.
Dinesh aka Raaj.
They maike mouth guards for this type of thing. You wear it at night to keep from grinding your teeth at night, which they say you can't control because you are asleep. Your dentist will be able to decide if you need a mouth guard; he can see if you are grinding your teeth at night by the wear on your back teeth. Hope this helps.