Helpful Treatment Measures for Temporal Mandibular Joint Syndrome

Take Tylenol every 3 hours as needed for pre-emptive TMJ pain.

Apply heat with a warm washcloth and massage the jaw area as needed.

Consume a soft diet as needed. If something hurts to chew don't eat it. In extreme cases some people may need to blenderize their food or eat baby food for a few days until the pain subsides.

NO CHEWING GUM

Try to keep your jaw as relaxed as possible and you may need to reduce movement as much as possible.

The use of a bite block at night is strongly recommended for patients with evidence of bruxism, which is the grinding of ones teeth. A bite block can be bought at most pharmacies or your dentist can provide you with one.

See your dentist as soon as possible.

TMJ is primarily a dental problem but some dentists are reluctant to treat it because it is difficult to cure and almost always a chronic condition you have to consistent manage. Your dentist can check however for any misalignment of teeth or restorations and can advise you if there is any need for corrective measures such as with your occlusion or corrective measures that can be done to your dentures.

Seek multiple medical opinions before allowing anyone to operate on your jaw joints. TMJ syndrome is a medical condition that can be successfully managed by implementing a few changes such as with diet and stress reduction.

Such TMJ surgery is extremely controversial and should be performed only if there is no alternative, such as in the case of jaw fixation, which is the inability to open or close ones mouth.

TMJ syndrome can be a progressive and in advanced cases a very debilitating condition, so please be careful not to stress your jaw joints any more than necessary. If you find yourself clenching or grinding your teeth during the day, which is a direct result of stress you should seek medical help to control this habit and try to reduce any stress you may have.

TMJ can also be helped with pain medications and anxiety medications that can reduce stress levels.

With proper medical treatment most patients with TMJ improve over time and can have significant pain reduction for long periods of time. If you do not improve please return to your medical doctor for re-evaluation.

If you think you may have TMJ symptoms you should seek medical attention. Symptoms of TMJ include:

Jaw pain or discomfort

Ear pain or discomfort

Grinding of teeth, with wearing of incisors or all teeth in general

Clenching of jaw region

References for this article include:

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001227.htm
emedicine.medscape.com/article/809598-overview
www.emedicinehealth.com/temporomandibular_joint_tmj_syndrome/article_em.htm