When you have head and/or face pain and a popping or grinding noise when you open your jaw, close it, or chew, you may be suffering from TMJ dysfunction, also known as TMJ disorder. The condition affects up to 35 million Americans, which makes it a common occurrence, but that by no means suggests you should leave it alone.
What does TMJ mean?
The TMJ is the temporomandibular joint, a hinge found at the junction of the skull and mandible (jaw) bones. This joint allows the jaw to move up, down, and side-to-side, to help aid chewing, talking, and yawning. Because it is so extensively used, as time passes, it may cause excessive wear on the joint, stiffness, headaches, ear pain, bite problems (malocclusion), clicking sounds, locked jaws, or even hearing loss, all of which require treatment.
How is TMJ diagnosed?
TMJ dysfunction is a common condition, affecting about 35 million Americans, and about 720 million people worldwide - that's 12% of the population! However, since the condition is so widespread, the chance for diagnosis and treatment is obtainable through many different avenues.
First, you can find a great deal of information about TMJ dysfunction on the Internet, and you should take advantage of this resource to understand what you are going through. Keep a log of your symptoms while you're doing this, and indicate how they vary over time, when they're best or worst, and any other information you think is relevant. Once you have the information, set up a meeting with your doctor to discuss your concerns.
If your doctor is not a TMJ specialist, he or she will refer you to another practitioner, most likely a dentist, a physical therapist, or a maxillofacial surgeon, who can make a definitive diagnosis. According to the American Dental Association, dentists are the most capable specialist to detect and treat TMJ; however, unless the dentist has taken continuing education classes to learn all the manifestations of the disorder, they can only treat the TMJ signs that you bring up. Before you go to any specialist, make sure he or she is capable of diagnosing your condition properly.
How is TMJ treated?
What you do next is highly dependent on what type of TMJ specialist you've engaged for treatment:
1. Most will start their treatment in the same way, by advising you to rest your jaw muscles, as well as to limiting yourself to a soft diet and performing some jaw exercises.
2. Many Western medicine doctors will most likely opt for a range of painkillers and muscle relaxants to help take away the discomfort and allow the muscles around the TMJ to rest and heal.
3. A dentist might create an oral appliance to prevent tooth grinding and clenching, the two activities most responsible for the tightness and discomfort around the TMJ area.
Three possible alternative treatments are:
1. Biofeedback. This technique teaches you to control involuntary processes, such as muscle tension. Since one of the causes of TMJ pain is muscle tension, by learning to relax and to control that tension, you can control TMJ pain.
2. Yoga. This technique, with its focus on breathing control techniques, is also a good choice.
3. Massage therapy. Done regularly, this technique can also help release the muscle tension in the jaw and offer relief to the underlying stress responsible for all or some of the TMJ pain. In a 2007 study providing TMJ treatment option outcomes, results showed that massage, along with hot and cold therapy, offered the greatest pain relief among all the self-care treatments for TMJ pain.
Above all, you should look into self-help techniques, ones that you can do without the necessity of running to specialists all the time. Try to network with other TMJ patients, seeking support from like-minded people. And look into specialized organizations that do a wide variety of research on TMJ causes and treatment options. Just because you have TMJ dysfunction does not mean you have to suffer. If you become proactive, you can discover the wide range of TMJ treatments and options open to you.
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