TMJ Exercises for Jaw PoppingTemporomandibular joint disorder involves pain and stiffness in the joint where the jawbone meets the skull. One of the common symptoms is a popping or clicking sensation when opening or closing the jaw. In some cases, TMJ disorder is caused by injury, but stress and jaw abnormalities and poor posture can contribute to the condition. Some medical professionals may recommend surgery and orthodontics to correct the problem, however the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research recommends gentle stretching and relaxing exercises to increase jaw movement.Postural AlignmentPoor posture, such as holding your head forward, can also contribute to TMJ disorder, according to the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma, or NISMAT. Exercises that pull the head back to a neutral position and draw the shoulders into their natural position may relieve the stiffness and popping of the TMJ. To align your posture, stand with your back and shoulder blades against the wall. Bring your shoulder blades together to draw your shoulders back and down. Tuck your chin and shift your head until the back of your head touches the wall. Hold this position for up to 30 seconds and release. Repeat five times.Neck StretchesNISMAT cites whiplash injury as a possible cause of TMJ. Additionally, tightness in the jaw can also cause tight neck muscles, according to Sandy Fritz, author of "Mosby's Massage Therapy Review." Sit comfortably with your shoulders and head in neutral position. Tilt your head forward and gently press your hand against the back of your head to increase the stretch. Hold for up to 30 seconds and return to the neutral position. Look up and extend your chin toward the ceiling, while keeping your head from falling backward. Hold for up to 30 seconds and release. Tilt your head to the right and gently press against the left side to increase the stretch. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat the same motion on the right. Circle your head clockwise four times, keeping your head from falling back past your shoulders, then rotate counter-clockwise.Jaw StretchesJaw stretches fall into two categories: the max opening and lateral stretches. Both sets of stretches release tight jaw muscles and help retrain the jaw to its natural position. Sit comfortably and open your mouth as wide as is comfortable. Gently press your hand or fist against the front of your jaw to increase the stretch. Hold for up to 30 seconds and if you feel pain, stop. Slide your jaw to the left and gently press against the right side of your jaw with your hand or fist. Hold for up to 30 seconds and if you feel pain, stop. Slide your jaw to the left, press and hold for 30 seconds and release. Repeat each exercise four times.

First, a few preliminary thoughts about the Temporo-Mandibular Joint

These exercises will undoubtedly help reduce the pain you may be having from your jaw joint, but … and it’s a big but … this is a very complex joint, and it can produce a myriad of symptoms that you may not ordinarily associate with the jaw joint. 

So, if you are having pain that you think may be related to your temporo mandibular joint, a professional consultation is probably in order.

Like the sacro iliac joints in the pelvis which also have to work in tandem, to an even greater degree, because they are much more mobile, the jaw joints have to work in harmony when chewing, speaking, kissing, swallowing; like a good marriage, they enhance each other, and a bad marriage? Enough said. You get my meaning!

Tmj pain may be obvious, causing clicks and pops in the joint, difficulty opening the mouth, and pain over the joint. But just consider the following. The jaw joint can cause what appear to be eye and ear problems, facial pain, migraine headache, toothache, neck pain and many others. This is no simple problem. Tmj exercises will help, but choosing the right exercises and making the correct diagnosis you may really find requires the work of a professional.

A little Tmj anatomy

The Tmj joint is a common cause of headaches. For a delightful story free from chiropractic writer Bernard Preston, about a girl with Tmj headaches, click here. Father Time.

Here are shown some of the major structures which are often involved. Firstly the highly complex disc, and four jaw muscles, on the side of the head, the temporalis, on the side of the jaw, the masseter, both of which are jaw closers. Biters.

The other two muscles lie deep in the jaw (the pterygoids).

They work in harmony every time you open your mouth, to speak, yawn, chew ... they are the strongest muscles in the body, strong enough to bite your own finger off if you chose! Think TMJ exercises.

TMJ anatomy , more detail.A little TMJ neurology

The Trigeminal nerve which supplies the jaw joint, the face and jaw, and the upper neck, is the largest of the twelve cranial nerves. In fact it contains as much nerve material as all the other eleven cranial nerves put together. It's an important nerve. What are its parts? Soon you'll see why it is so important to chiropractors.

In the picture below you can see the three divisions that are sensory to the face and the deep tissues of the jaw including the teeth.

It is also sensory to the jaw joint, enabling you to know whether your jaw is open or closed, and experience pain or tiredness in the jaw after chewing gum for a while. This is the nerve that lets you know how to watch out for the pip when you are biting into an olive.

It is motor to the four big muscles of the jaw joint (seen above).

TMJ exercises are a vital part of the correct management of the temporo mandinular joint pain if you suffer from chronic headaches and facial pain. That's part of the philosophy of chiropractic; learn to look after yourself insofar as you are able.

The next picture is most interesting to chiropractors, because the sensory trigeminal nucleus reaches down into the spinal cord; it's that long thin heavy black structure in the neck, and it is also sensory to the upper 2-3 levels of the neck too.

Can you see it joining with the upper neck nuclei?

Ever had the odd experience that when you get sinusitis, or toothache, or jaw joint pain, you often simultaneously get upper neck pain?

So, this enormously important nerve supplies the face, teeth, jaw joint and upper neck and base of the skull. That's sensory; it feels. Then it drives the muscles of the jaw on top of that.

Is it any wonder that we get hopelessly confused with pain in the neck, jaw, teeth, around the face; this is a condition that really hurts. It makes people suicidal sometimes, that bad.

That cauliflower structure behind is the great coordinator, called the cerebellum. It enables all these complex structures to work in harmony.

I've only touched on this subject. It involves the lips, the cheeks, the neck muscles, the tongue, the swallowing muscles; really complex stuff. For example, the cerebellum is what enables you to chew without biting your tongue, lip and cheeks.

Atlanto axial joint anatomy .

The thumb is truly an amazing little limb and, like the face and the jaw joint, it receives very high representation in the brain. I have to say that I agree with Sir Isaac. Just believing that the thumb, or the jaw came about by freak chance, is like believing the laptop you are reading this on was the result of a freak flash of lightening, melting bits of steel and glass and moulding into your computer. Ridiculous, huh?

Three TMJ exercises - none are simple

I must stress: choosing the right TMJ exercises and doing them correctly, is paramount. Listen to your jaw. Some discomfort is to be expected in the beginning, but if your instincts tell you this is not helping, don't be silly and keep going. Seek professional help.

Tmj exercise 1

For your first Tmj exercise sit comfortably in a high backed chair with your head back against the head rest, and your mouth lightly closed. Place the web of your thumb and forefinger against the front of the lower jaw; outside of your mouth.

Using your hand press on your chin, gently forcing your lower jaw backwards, and your head into the headrest, neither allowing your head and neck to flex nor extend and allowing the mouth to open slightly.

Done correctly you should feel the lower teeth moving backwards in relation to the upper teeth, as your whole lower jaw moves backwards.

Relax, and allow your jaw to move forwards again, keeping your chin on the same level. Avoid looking up and down. Repeat five times, several times a day.

It shouldn't be painful, and you will feel a light stretch deep in the jaw. As with any new exercise programme, do it gently to begin with. Is this new procedure helping or aggravating your jaw joint and facial pain?

Could it be worsening your migraine headaches? Are you getting more or less clicks and pops?

Start with exercise 1, and do it for a few days. If you are feeling benefit, add 2, and then a few days later temporo mandibular joint exercise 3.

One or more of these exercises may not be beneficial, remember. Do start them gently, exploring whether they are going be beneficial or not.

I get a lot of letters at chiropractic help asking for advice. Many of you have had serious jaw injuries. That might be from a punch, or a car accident, or having your forcibly opened under anaesthetic to remove wisdom teeth; whatever, these exercises should be done gently. It's quite possible they won't help, or only help partially. Done sensibly they're not likely to make you worse, but they could. Use your common sense.

And of course do them regularly if they are proving helpful. 

Tmj exercise 2

As in exercise 1, sit comfortably in a chair, resting against the back rest. Place the web of your thumb and forefinger again against the front of the lower jaw with the teeth slightly apart.

As before, using your hand press gently against our chin to force your lower jaw gently backwards. Done correctly you should feel the lower teeth moving backwards in relation to the upper teeth, just as in exercise 1. Don't open your mouth any extra.

You will feel a stretch deep with the jaw joint. Don't go too deep initially; the intention is essenially to stretch the muscles rather than the capsule of the jaw joint. 

Now gently pushyour lower jaw, not your whole head, forwards against your hand. Hold fast for a few seconds.

Then, relaxing your hand, use your jaw muscles to gently push your lower jaw forwards, so that the lower teeth protrude. Hold for a second or two.

Repeat by gently pushing the jaw backwards again with your hand.

Do this maybe three or four times, several times a day.

If your muscls ache during or after this period, use a little cream to massage the temporalis and masseter muscles before you start exercise 2.

You may also use alternating ice and heat if you have pain in the jaws after these exercises. 

TMJ exercise 3

For the third of our TMJ exercises - with your teeth closed gently against each other - rest the tip of your tongue against the top of your mouth, just behind the front teeth.

Now run the tip of your tongue backwards along the top of your mouth, keeping the teeth closed, until you can just reach some soft tissue (the soft palate).

Lastly, and this is where you must be careful, slowly open your mouth, trying to keep the tongue against the soft palate. When you feel your tongue being pulled away from the soft palate, STOP.Don’t open any further. In fact, to start with, stop before your tongue leaves the soft palate, or if it hurts, or you get clicks or pops.

NB. Stop opening your mouth before the jaw pops if you have a popping jaw.

Hold this position for a few seconds and then relax. Repeat only once or twice to begin with.

GENTLY DOES IT, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO THE TMJ OLYMPICS! Your muscles will tire and feel sore quite quickly. 

TMJ - Exercise and Diet Treatments

Overview

TMJ is the commonly used acronym for temporomandibular joint disorder. The pain associated with TMJ is thought to be caused by displacement of the cartilage where the lower jaw connects to the skull causing pressure and stretching of the associated sensory nerves. I developed a very bad case of TMJ several years ago, along with an overall case of fibromyalgia. My jaw was so painful that I had to eat baby food at times.

In looking for a cure, I bought a lot of books and spent hours on online research. I went to see many different types of practitioners, including TMJ specialists, dentists, doctors, orthopedists, an acupuncturist, chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, and more, in order to try to find a

cure for my TMJ pain and overall fibromyalgia. Eventually it worked and now my pain is gone. The TMJ treatment options that helped me are listed below.

The Cause of My TMJ

In my case, my jaw was where I really hurt, but it actually wasn't the source of my pain. The source of my pain was tight muscles from other parts of my body pulling on my jaw, causing pain and pulling it out of alignment. The practitioner who helped my TMJ the most was a physical therapist who specialized in ergonomics, posture training and body alignment. He looked at my body as a whole, and his treatment to improve my posture and body alignment helped me a lot. Below is a picture of how my body used to look when my TMJ pain was at it's worst. The dark circles are tension points with knotted muscles and the shaded lines are where my skin, nerves and muscles were being pulled taught between the tension points.

I had TMJ near point B, but as my physical therapist explained to me, that isn't where my pain was originating from. At points A and C I had tight knotted muscles. At pointsB andmuscles were weak and stretched out. Other problems that I had that were all interrelated with my TMJ were scoliosis, a frozen shoulder (between points B and C), kneecaps that pulled inward, a twisted thorax, a pronated right foot,plugged ears, ear pain and knee pain. As I slowly figured out how to get my body better aligned and my muscles balanced, these problems all started clearing up in unison, including my TMJ.

 

Food for Thought

The most important point to remember, and the number one reason I see in my email for people never really recovering from TMJ, seems to be that most people fail to consider the possibility that the place in your body where you are feeling pain may not be the place in your body that is causing the pain. Your jaw may be hurting because of muscle tension pulling on your jaw from some other part of your body.

We have a two story house, and we recently had foundation work done. The house was sagging on the first and second stories, but the engineers spent most of their time examining the crawl space under the house and had the construction crew fix

support posts in the crawl space. The source of the problem was not in the same place as the symptoms of the problem. Think of your TMJ as being in your "second story", and consider the possibility that your real problem might start with alignment problems somewhere else in your body, like in your knees or maybe even you feet. As shown above, a muscle knot in my right leg over time was pulling down on my

shoulder and jaw.

If you have TMJ, look in the mirror and see if your shoulders are evenly balanced from side to side and front to back. Beside shoulder issues, many people with TMJ also suffer from a forward head posture that pulls the jaw out of proper alignment.

 

Contributing Factors

I realize now that there were a multitude of factors that contributed to my TMJ. My body alignment problems were one, but there were also other factors. These were:

I had a hereditary connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. TMJ is common in people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome or other connective tissue disorders. Besides TMJ, other common features of connective tissue disorders are mitral valve prolapse, hypermobile joints (also called being double jointed), myopia (nearsightedness), irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, pectus excavatum (sunken chests), scoliosis, hearing problems, anxiety disorders, heart palpitations, poor wound healing and bleeding problems. Some people, especially women, with connective tissue disorders have what is called a Marfan habitus or mitral valve prolapse syndrome. They are tall and thin with long arms and legs, scoliosis and/or a chest deformity such as pectus excavatum or pectus carinatum.

A study from Sweden found, "an association between joint hypermobility, abnormal skin connective tissue composition, mitral valve malfunction, and musculoskeletal disorders in young women with TMJ dysfunction, especially internal derangement." Basically, TMJ, hypermobility, defective connective tissue and MVP seems to occur together, either in people with defined connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or people in the general population with mild connective tissue abnormalities.

See my home page for more information on connective tissue disorders. I had most of the problems listed above and a lot more. I never knew they were all interrelated, or that there was a name for my health problems, until I was diagnosed by a rheumatologist with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. After my diagnosis, I started looking up things on the Internet and everything started to click. I put up this web site describing my health problems, what seemed to help me, and how I thought my symptoms were all logically interrelated and related to nutrition. Now I literally get hundreds of thousands of visitors a year from people with variations of many the same symptoms as I have had, including TMJ.

I also suspect that I had a problem with defective hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is also called Hyaluronan, or HA. Hyaluronic acid is a component of connective tissue that functions to cushion and lubricate various body parts.  HA occurs throughout the body in abundant amounts in many of the places people with TMJ also have problems, such as other joints, eyes and heart valves. A study on PubMed showed that people with TMJ had abnormalities of hyaluronic acid compared to people without TMJ. Interestingly, one of the latest treatments for TMJ is injections of hyaluronic acid or oral supplements focused on improving hyaluronic acid.

Overuse of my hand on the side where I had TMJ was another contributing factor. I had TMJ on my right side where I used a computer mouse for hours at a time. I think the tightness caused from gripping the mouse all day tightened my muscles on that entire side of my body and contributed to my TMJ pain and fibromyalgia. My TMJ pain also developed after I had kids and spent a lot of time

pushing baby strollers, so I think that was another contributing factor. I have two sons close in age, so when they were little I had two babies to take care of at one time. I would push both of them around in a very heavy, double stroller. I think the gripping and pushing action from pushing the stroller around tightened my hand and shoulder muscles and also contributed to my TMJ. To make things even worse, I used to purpose push their stroller uphill for exercise. In hindsight this tightened the muscles too much in the front of my shoulder on my right side. I know now I should have embarked on a more balanced program of stretching and strengthening.

I also suspect that I had a magnesium deficiency. As you can see from the chart below, many of the conditions that are linked to TMJ such as mitral valve prolapse and fibromyalgia are also linked to low levels of magnesium. Mg deficiencies can cause both tight muscles and defective connective tissue. One of the things that helped my MVP, fibromyalgia and TMJ was adding more foods rich in this important mineral to my diet.

Conditions Linked to TMJ Conditions Linked to Magnesium Deficiency

migraines and other types of headachesmigraines and other types of headaches

mitral valve prolapse mitral valve prolapse

fibromyalgia fibromyalgia

hearing loss hearing loss

tinnitus tinnitis

menstruating women menstruating women

vertigo vertigo

According to the TMJ Association web site, the majority of TMJ patients are women in their childbearing years. Interestingly, most of the people who develop mitral valve prolapse and fibromyalgia are also women in their child bearing years. TMJ, fibromyalgia and mitral valve prolapse all commonly occur together, all occur primarily in women of child bearing age, and at least two of the three conditions (MVP and fibromyalgia) have been linked to magnesium deficiencies. Interestingly, excessive menstruation has been linked to magnesium deficiency, which may explain why women of childbearing age (menstruating women) then have more conditions linked to magnesium deficiency than the population in general.

Interestingly, magnesium is needed to make hyaluronic acid, so it is not surprising that conditions linked to magnesium deficiencies and conditions linked to hyaluronic acid abnormalities tend to go hand in hand. Besides TMJ, conditions where magnesium deficiency may play a role include fibromyalgia, keratoconus, nystagmus, insomnia, asthma, allergies, attention deficit disorder and migraine headaches.Headaches and TMJ commonly occur together. Many people believe the TMJ causes headaches, which seems highly plausible. However, since headaches   are linked to magnesium deficiency, another possibility to consider is that TMJ and headaches are both manifestations of a common root cause--a magnesium deficiency.

 

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Diet Treatments That Helped My TMJ

There's a whole list of diet changes that I made to help my pain problems, including my TMJ, in my section on foods that helped my fibromyalgia. I've included a few of the diet changes here that I believe helped my TMJ the most below:

Cutting back on salicylates. I believe this masy be at least in part because salycilates block vitamin K. (See my section on health conditions linked to vitamin K deficiencies for more on salicylates.)

Cutting back on wheat and dairy, especially whole grains. Avoiding foods and supplements with a lot of vitamin C or iron. While Avoiding foods with sugar, yeast and preservatives. Eating more fat, especially moderate amounts of saturated fat.* Eating more red meat for zinc, iron and vitamin B12. Eating organ meat occassionaly for micronutrients. Eating vegetable soup with a lot of vegetables and beans for magnesium, meat and sometimes broth

made from animal parts (bones, tendons, etc. for hyaluronic acid.)

My kids have never had TMJ, but one has had neck pain and both children are prone to fibromyalgia. So this means I have three people to experiment on in our family to see what helps our pain problems. While exercises, posture training and yoga help a lot, the number one factor that influences whether we have joint and muscle problems or not on a given day seems to be our diet, especially the amount of magnesium rich foods we eat.

I also used to suffer from menorrhagia (heavy menstrual bleeding) which I suspect was one of the reasons I was magnesium deficient. I was able to control my menorrhagia through changing my diet, which is written up in my section onMenorrhagia.

* I've gotten a number of emails from people questioning my intake of dietary fat and high cholesterol concerns. For more information on saturated fat and the health risks associated withlow cholesterol levels, see my web page Low Cholesterol: The Overlooked Health Risks.

My Experience with Jaw Splints

One of the initial treatments I had for my jaw was a splint from a dentist. Wearing the splint changed my pain level from really bad to unbearably excruciating. Not only that, the splint changed my bite so that my molars no longer met and I couldn't chew food. Fortunately, within a few days after I stopped wearing the splint, my bite returned to normal.

I've had one email since my site has been up from someone claiming success from a splint, but far more people have written that they have had success with therapies such as acupuncture, rolfing or yoga to help their TMJ jaw pain. It is interesting to note that these are all therapies that address tension in the muscles surrounding the jaw.

Exercise for TMJ

Besides the diet changes, the following environmental changes also helped to reduce my TMJ pain:

I bought extra sharp knives for chopping vegetables. We try to eat extra healthy so I make a lot of meals using fresh produce. Cutting fruits and vegetables frequently had been adding to my muscle tension on my hands and arms. With the extra sharp knives I didn't have to put as much pressure on my hands to cut things.

The best book I've found for jaw pain is Taking Control of TMJ.It is one of the few TMJ books that focuses on total body alignment, yoga and diet for temporomandibular joint disorder. The simplistic approach that many other TMJ books have seems to be that since a person's jaw is hurting, we'll have them do a lot of jaw and neck exercises. However, obvious solutions are often wrong. In my case, and I suspect many others, my jaw was where I had the most pain, but it wasn't the cause of my pain. Doing exercises only on my jaw just increased my pain because they pulled on already irritated muscles and didn't address the source of my pain.

This book has extensive information on body alignment, and it is the one of the few books I found that described what was really wrong with my body: tight muscles in other parts of my body that were pulling on my jaw and shoulder. As you can see from the picture above, I had one shoulder that was higher and one shoulder that slumped lower than the other. The side with the lower shoulder was where my jaw, ear and neck hurt. This was the source of my pain. The Taking Control of TMJ book addresses how to correct these types of problems with information on sleeping positions, diet changes to release tight muscles, posture tips to prevent imbalanced muscles and therapeutic yoga postures to reduce overall body and jaw tension.

"When we professionals fail to look at the total patient, head to toe, and consider all of the factors contributing to the jaw problems, our treatments fail, and the patient does not get well."

Robert O. Uppguaard, writing in Taking Control of TMJ

Treatment Summary

The treatments that ended up helping my TMJ the most involved improving my overall posture and body alignment and loosening up my tight muscles. My TMJ pain came from tight muscles in my hands, shoulders and other parts of my body pulling on my jaw. I suspect that may be a cause of TMJ pain for other people, too.

TMJ impacts women of childbearing age more frequently than it effects other segments of the population. TMJ commonly occurs along with fibromyalgia, tinnitus, migraines, mitral valve prolapse and other conditions linked to magnesium deficiencies. A major factor in all of these associations may be that because magnesium gets depleted through the menstruation process, women of child bearing age are more likely to be at risk for conditions linked to a deficiency of this mineral.

Here's a recap of what helped me:

Changing my diet , especially to get more magnesium. Improving my computer workstation set up and switching to an optical scanner mouse. Using a fanny pack instead of a purse.

Using extra sharp knives in the kitchen. Seeing a physical therapist who specialized in ergonomics and posture. Doing yoga postures and ergonomic stretches every day. Using a styrofoam back roller. Using trigger point therapy and moist heat to relax my muscles. Reading and studying the books listed above on yoga, repetitive stress injuries and body alignment

I don't know if these treatments will help other people with TMJ, but they helped clear up my TMJ problem completely. Most of these treatment ideas such as getting enough magnesium in your diet, setting up your computer work station correctly, improving your body alignment and doing gentle yoga poses are generally considered low cost, low risk healthy things to do anyway, so they may be worth considering if you suffer from TMJ pain. 

21 Home Remedies Exercises and Natural Cures for TMJ TreatmentHolistic Home remedies and natural cures for treatment of Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) pain and its allied symptomsThe mandible is the toughest and biggest bone of the face and it serves to support the lower teeth. The joints of the mandible are the only joints in the body which move on a hard tissue.When the jaw is misaligned as a result of trauma, malocclusion (bad bite) or otherwise, it is known as temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ).

Symptoms of TMJ1) Circular Headache: One of the most common symptoms of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a headache similar to one that would be felt when a cloth would be tightly tied on the head for a long period of time. Many people who suffer from a headache due to TMJ describe it as a ring of pain around the head. The pain increases every time a TMJ sufferer speaks or grinds his teeth.The constant contraction of the muscles of the mandibles creates a stress and strain in the face, head and neck. This muscular contraction reduces the amount of blood in the head. The body responds by sending more blood this region which increases the blood pressure in the head region which gives a headache.2) Depression and anxiety: Any pain can be frustrating and when it’s a chronic pain, refusing to die, depression and anxiety are but natural. Depression usually occurs when patients can not get relief from the pain because of poor diagnosis of symptoms.

Causes of TMJTMJ is primarily caused by:

External Trauma like a blow on the jaws due to accidents or otherwise.

Internal trauma: from excessive chewing, teeth clenching or grinding (Bruxism)

Mental trauma, stress or anxiety Osteoarthritis: depletion of cartilage and no

formation of new bone due to aging Rheumatoid Arthritis Birth defect – Muscular alignment issues Nutritional deficiencies (especially of Calcium and Magnesium) Spinal alignment issues

Allopathic cure for TMJIn many cases of TMJ , it has been found that doctors often keep looking for local causes of pain and fail to diagnose the exact cause. The result – patient often fail to respond to treatment, whereby the frustration, and anxiety increases.

For an effective cure, it is important to correctly diagnose the cause. Once diagnosed, proper treatment can provide psychological and physical relief.

Pain caused by muscular contraction can be temporarily relieved with medication, exercises or psychological therapy. But the root cause of disease (i;e malocclusion dislocation) still persists.

Alternatively doctors prescribe surgery of blood vessels in the brain to realign temporomandibular joints in an optimal position. This neuromuscular dentistry surgery mostly provides relief from chronic pain.

However, surgery is expensive and not without post-surgical complications.

Some patients may need consult a chiropractor or other doctors to treat other allied symptoms of TMJ.

Home remedies and natural cures for TMJWhile taking antibiotics and pain killers help alleviating TMJ pain, they are usually short-lived and have negative side effects.

Home remedies for TMJ are of vital importance in allaying and getting rid of root cause of TMJ. The natural home remedies mentioned below are very useful in relieving TMJ symptoms like muscular pain, headache and anxiety.

A holistic TMJ therapy should comprise of a four pronged attack: Jaw exercises for TMJ treatment Relaxation exercises to reduce pain inducing stress. Eating habit changes to addressing nutritional deficiencies that aggravate

TMJ Lifestyle Changes to alleviate pain and cure TMJ

1) Jaw exercises for TMJJaw Exercise #1 Open your mouth as wide as you can without feeling any pain. With mouth wide open, move your jaw gradually to the right and hold for 10 seconds. Return to middle. Move your jaw gradually to the right and hold for 10 seconds. Return your jaw to center and close your mouth. Repeat 4-5 times.Jaw Exercise #2 Using your right hand index finger; trace the jaw hinge on your right side. Gently massage the muscles with a downward action of your finger. Repeat the action on your left side with left index finger.Jaw Exercise #3 Open your mouth as wide as you can without feeling any pain. With mouth wide open, move the tip of your tongue upwards to touch the roof of the mouth. While your tongue keeps touching the roof, try to move the tongue tip in backward direction (toward your tonsils) Hold for 5 seconds. Now pull your tongue out of your mouth and stretch it to the maximum you can. Hold on for 5 seconds. Repeat 5-10 times.Jaw Exercise #4 Sit erect and move your chin up and down for around a minute. Stop and then move your chin in a side to side movement for another minute. Repeat twice. Do not stretch too hard or you may sprain your neck.Jaw Exercise # 5 Stand in front of a mirror, support your chin with both hands and open your jaws wide. With mouth wide open, touch the roof of your mouth with the tip of your tongue. While you keep touching the roof with your tongue tip, do a slow up and down movement of your jaws at the same time providing slight resistance with your

hands every time you open your jaws. Do it for around a minute in each session and repeat it up to thrice a dayJaw Exercise # 6 Yawn as widely as you can without hurting yourself. Then yawn twice more but this time only opening your mouth only half as wide. Repeat twice.

2) Relaxation exercises to reduce TMJ painStressful living is a major cause of TMJ. Exercises that relax the spinal chord and the nervous system are very beneficial home remedy for TMJ.

Relaxation exercises #1: Exercise for Spines: Sit erect and bend your head forwardso that the chin touches your chest. Interlock fingers of both your hands and place it behind your head. Push your head back while your hands resist this backward movement. Don’t press too hard. Repeat this 3-5 times twice a day to relax your entire spinal chord. This exercise is a very effective home remedy for TMJ pain.

Relaxation exercises #2: Sit erect and open your mouth in a relaxed manner. Bend your head back to point your forehead to the sky. Take in a deep breath and slowly exhale. Return to the starting position and repeat.Relaxation exercises #3: Deep Breathing exercise: Lie down on your back. Place your left hand on your stomach and right hand on your chest. Relax normally for some times. Next, take deep breaths and feel the air pass through your trachea deep down up to your belly. Slowly exhale. Repeat this 10-20 times during one sitting.Other than these three exercises, you can practice any relaxation exercise that you enjoy and gets your blood pumping. It could be a simple thing like walking, jogging, cycling or playing tennis. Yoga and mediation exercises are also great to induce relaxation. Regular exercising is a great way to beat stress and reduce the allied symptoms of TMJ.

3) Changes in Eating Habits to remove nutritional deficiencies that aggravate TMJKeep your body hydrated: Dehydration causes muscle cramps in neck, shoulders and mandibular joints. It is therefore very important to keep the body properly hydrated. Not drinking enough water is one of the main causes of TMJ related cramps. Increase water intake to a minimum of 8 glasses (150 ounces) a day or higher. Evenly distribute water intake over the entire day. Intake of excess water in short period of time can causehyper hydration or water poisoning A good thumb rule is to drink at least two glasses of water every 2 hours during the day time.Nutrition plays a vital role in alleviating TMJ pain. In a study conducted on 280 TMJ sufferers, it was found that round 249 had a nutritional deficiency of calcium and magnesium.Another study conducted by International Dental Association on 50 TMJ sufferer shows that adding calcium and magnesium supplements to food provided relief from TMJ pain to 70% of the participants.

Calcium provides strength to the bones while magnesium relives muscular tension.

An average adult requires a daily magnesium intake of 310mg. Normal staple food often fails to supply this quantity. A deficiency in magnesium can lead to muscle spasms, Magnesium also helps in calcium metabolism which help prevent other TMJ related diseases like osteoporosis.

Magnesium rich food effective in allaying TMJ pain: Almonds, Avocados, Black-eyed Peas, Brazil nuts, Cashews, Cocoa Powder (Dark Chocolate), Corn (White or Yellow), Dry Roasted Peanuts, Flax, Low Fat Yogurt, Molasses, Oat, Oatmeal, Pumpkin,

Rice, Roasted Soybeans, Sesame Butter, Sesame Seeds, Spinach,Squash, Sunflower seeds, Watermelon Seeds, Wheat, Whole Milk and Walnuts.Calcium rich food effective in allaying TMJ pain: An average adult needs a daily intake of round 10 grams of calcium. Calcium rich food helpful in curing TMJ are unboiled milk, unpolished rice, wheat flour with husk, banana, coconut, sesame, oranges, almond, groundnut, green peas, cabbage and spinach.If you rid your body of junk food and replace them with fresh fruit, grains, nuts, and vegetables, you’ll definitely notice alleviation in TMJ pain and other allied symptoms.

Other nutritional supplements for treatment of TMJ:Vitamin B complex: A deficiency of Vitamin B is known to induce stress which can result in TMJ pain. Take Vitamin B-Complex capsules for around 15 days to address any possible Vitamin B deficiency.

Glucosamine Sulfate: This is another vital mineral that builds and repairs our body cartilage and relieves pain, stiffness and swelling in joint disorders like TMJ, rheumatism, osteoarthritis and several other joint disorders. Glucosamine Sulfate can be a very effective if TMJ is characterized by cartilage deterioration. However glucosamine sulfate

has some negative side effects and it is advisable to take it under the guidance of experienced doctors.Ginko Biloba is one of the richest sources of Glucosamine Sulfate in natural form. Raw parsley and spinach are other natural sources of glucosamine.

4) Lifestyle Changes to alleviate pain and cure TMJChange defective sitting posture habits: Wrong sitting posture is a major cause of TMJ pain. Make a habit of sitting as erect as you can. If you are one of those whose job requires long hours of sitting, ensure that you use a chair with correct lumbar support. Take short intermittent breaks to stretch and relax your spines. Habits are hard to change but get back to correct posture, every time you notice yourself slouching on the desk.Hot massage: Hot massage is an effective muscle relaxant. Massage jaw, neck, and shoulders with heating pad or hot-water bottle for relief from TMJ pain.Cold Packs: Applying cold packs on the jaw and neck helps relieve pain and allied symptoms of TMJ. For applying cold pack, fill a plastic zipper bag with ice and cover it with a towel. Place this towel on the affected jaws and neck for as long as you feel comfortable. An alternating heat and cold massage is also very effective in providing relief from TMJ pain.Plain body massage: Plain body massage with sandalwood, juniper, bergamot, tea tree or other essential oils helps improve bloodcirculation and provides relief from pain associated with TMJReassess those pills: Many antibiotic or contraceptive pills reduce immunity and increase muscular strain which canaggravate TMJ pain. Discuss all pills that you may be using with your doctor for their possible TMJ related implications.

Herbal remedies for TMJ treatmentSeveral herbs have been found to be very effective in treatment of TMJ. The most commonly used herbs include:

Rhus Toxicodendron: To loosen stiff jaw Valerian officinalis: To relax muscular tension Magnesia Phosphorica: Antispasmodic and eases stiff muscles. Kava: To relax nervous system

Kali Phosphorica: To reduce nerve pain. Methylsulfonylmethane: To reduce inflammation and alleviate muscular

spasmExtract of these herbs can be massaged on the jaws to provide relief from TMJ related pain.

Other recommendations for natural

treatment of TMJ Increase general intake of fruits and

vegetables in your diet. A liberal intake of fruits is a beneficial in treatment of TMJ and its allied symptoms.

Avoid smoking: Smoking is known to aggravate TMJ pain

Avoid eating chewing gums. Chewing gums do not exercise your jaws. On the contrary that can be a major cause of internal trauma which could result in aggravating symptoms of TMJ.

Reassess your sleeping pillows. Sleeping on cervical pillows is a helpful in cure and treatment of TMJ.

Fasting on an all-fruit diet help clear the body of toxic radicals that cause muscular stiffness and is recommended.Tags: Home remedy for TMJ, Natural cure for TMJ treatment, Home cure for TMJ.

Effective TMJ Exercises That Work

TMJ dysfunction is a common syndrome, involving symptoms of pain, clicking and stiffness of the jaw joint and surrounding muscles. At its mildest the problem is an occasional annoyance. But for some patients it leads to frequent, quite severe pain and limited movement of the mouth. The pain can spread out to affect the neck, temples and can lead to migraines.As you can read on the previous page, there are a variety of things that are proven to be useful for relief of TMJ symptoms. In this article we will focus on jaw exercises, and how do these properly to get best results.Note that with severe cases, your doctor or dentist may need to prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs or even a muscle relaxant such as diazepam. If in doubt, always get professional opinion before undertaking any TMJ exercises.

So why do these jaw exercises?These natural exercises are not a quick fix. They do take some practice and time, but they really will help with symptomatic relief in the long-term. This study showed that exercises alone can give quicker relief from TMJ pain than wearing a mouth guard can. 

How do they help?

Depending on the exercise that you do, the aims are to; relieve acute symptoms and prevent chronic recurrences, reduce jaw clicking and popping, retrain the jaw to open and close properly and smoothly, limiting deviation

to the side.By carrying out these repetitive jaw pain exercises, you will be strengthening and conditioning the jaw muscles and ligaments. The aim is to take the strain of those muscles that are being overworked and contributing to the problem.

We will outline a few routines are sure to help relieve the pain and stiffness of TMJ syndrome. These all mainly involve simple, gentle repetitions of precise jaw movements. It is a good idea to sit up straight when doing these temporomandibular joint exercises, as good posture is an important element in relieving jaw strain. 

A simple exercise to stop jaw clicking

If your jaw is clicking, follow the simple routine outlined below, and do so twice a day for a few weeks:

1. Gently close your mouth until the teeth are just touching. Make sure that you feel no pressure being exerted.

2. Place the tip of your tongue just behind the front teeth, touching the roof of your mouth.

3. Now roll your tongue back, but keep it touching your palate.4. Slightly open your mouth, doing so slowly. Only open to the point where

you can feel your tongue being pulled away from the roof of your mouth. When doing this, make sure that you are opening perfectly straight. If necessary, check by standing in front of a mirror. You may see that the jaw naturally deviates to one side – this is common for patients with TMJ dysfunction. The aim is to gently counteract this deviation with practice.

5. Hold your mouth open for five seconds, then close and relax.Now repeat this simple process for 5 minutes each time (again, do so twice daily). To begin with you may feel some strain around the joint. This is normal, and is down to the muscles adjusting to these new movements. If you notice any clicking when undertaking the above, you are probably not doing the exercise properly. Just relax and try again from the beginning

Isometric jaw exercises

The following repetitions are aimed at strengthening the facial muscles, by moving the jaw in various directions, while applying gentle opposing force. Again, sit upright while doing these.

1. Open your mouth slightly and place the tip of your index finger above the lower front teeth. Isometric exercise implies using the muscles against a force, without moving them. in this case, you gently press down with your finger, but press against this with your jaw. Hold this static position for five seconds. Simple.

2. Next we are doing some resistance exercise in the opposite direction. Take your finger out, keeping your mouth in the same position. Now gently press up against your chin with a thumb or your fist, and resist any movement by pressing against it with your jaw. Again, hold for five seconds.

3. Finally, we do resistance exercises for sideways movements. This is done by pressing against one side of your jaw with your index finger, resisting movement by pressing gently with your jaw and holding for five seconds. Repeat for the other side.

 

Stretching TMJ ExercisesAnother straightforward routine, this involves assisted stretching open of the mouth.

Warm up the joint with several small opening and closing movements.

Then place your index and middle fingers on the tips of the front teeth. Slowly pull down until pain is felt on the most affected side. The pain

should be mild only. Do not over-do it. Hold this for 30 seconds. Repeat this stretch routine three times doing so four times a day.With acute cases of TMD, you may find it difficult to open your mouth very wide. Just start off gently and keep at it. You will soon notice improvement in how wide you can open. It would seem counter-intuitive to perform an action like this that can cause some pain. But stretching out the muscles is an important routine, if you want fast relief from pain and stiffness.Again, as mentioned above, if symptoms are sever you may need some form of anti-inflammatory to help with relief. 

Outlook

How long you will need to do these exercises will depend on a few things: How severe the problem is to begin with Whether or not you are grinding your teeth (bruxism) a lot How well you keep up with the daily routine (yes, they can be slightly

boring! But the benefits make this well worthwhile)Often, within 2 to 3 weeks the symptoms will be markedly reduced. Should symptoms persist, or you have any concerns or queries, do seek professional advice from your dentist.