TMJ Exercises - The Solution to a Painful Problem?

It is possible to strengthen just about every single part of our bodies in some way or another. This is even true for our jaws. Yes, it is possible to do TMJ exercises and strengthen your temporomandibular joint. The TMJ is the joint that is in charge of how your jaw moves. It controls the opening and closing of your mouth and the movement of your lower jaw from side to side. It's a cartilage covered ball and socket joint. The joint also has a disk in it whose job is mainly to prevent wear and tear from taking their toll on your jaw. While your jaw gets plenty of exercise when you eat, there might be other times when you want to do other kinds of exercises that will improve the health of your jaw.

Most people can go their entire lives without experiencing severe problems with their temporomandibular joints. Of course between five and fifteen percent of the population do experience some kind of problem with their TMJs and experience some kind of pain. Making sure to exercise your TMJ can help you prevent as well as overcome many of the issues that accompany TMJ disorders. Just make sure to do them properly or you could injure your jaw further.

A similar comparison can be made to sore elbows and ankles. If your elbows and ankles are sore, do you need to exercise those parts of your body all the time to heal them if they are injured? Of course not. Typically you apply ice and heat to the affected area of your body and then, once it starts to feel better, you might exercise it to strengthen the muscles that surround it. This is the same thing that you need to do with your temporomandibular joints. While there are facial yoga exercises that you can do to strengthen your jaw, if you over do it then in the long run you could end up doing more harm than good.

If you have been experiencing signs and symptoms of a TMJ disorder you need to figure out what is causing the problem before you try any strengthening exercises or begin any treatments. Sometimes they are caused by the shifting of your teeth (this can't be cured by facial exercises). Sometimes the disorders are caused by stress in your daily life. Before you try to treat the problems in your jaw joint, you need to figure out what is causing your jaw to move incorrectly or to lock. Seek out the help of your doctor and dentist to figure out what is causing your disorder. Exercising your TMJ could only exacerbate the problem if you try to do the exercise before figuring out the cause of the problem.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons that you should exercise your temporomandibular joints on a regular basis. Exercise will strengthen the joint and the stronger your jaw, the easier time it will have standing up to the wear and tear of TMJ disorders. Just make sure to proceed with caution if you start to experience pain.