Your TMJ, or temporomandibular joint, anchors your mandible (the lower part of your jaw) to the temporal bone of the skull.  When your jaw is functioning normally, there’s no reason to ever really think about it. However, when the TMJ develops a problem and function is impaired, it can lead to pain, loss of range of motion, grinding, popping, and more.  

When your TMJ isn’t working properly, it is sometimes referred to as TMD (temporomandibular disorder) or TMJD (temporomandibular joint disorder).  There are several reasons why TMJD might develop, and symptoms can range from mild to severe. Mild TMJD might cause occasional clicking in the joint or slight discomfort.  More severe cases can cause the jaw to lock, severe pain, and migraines, affecting a person’s ability to talk, eat, drink, and yawn normally.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of TMJD?

When you have dysfunction of the TMJ, it can affect one or both sides of the face.  The pain, discomfort, and other symptoms can arise temporarily or can persist for many years.  TMJD is more common in women than men, and most likely to occur between the ages of 20 and 40. Some of the most common signs and symptoms include:

• Tenderness or pain around the jaw joints, face, ears, and scalp
• Pain when trying to chew, speak, yawn, or otherwise open and close your mouth
• Loss of range of motion in the jaw or the inability to open wide
• Jaws that lock or stick in an open or closed position
• Headaches
• Earaches
• Neck pain
• Toothaches
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Swelling around the jaw joint on either side of the face
• Popping, grating, clicking or grinding sounds from the TMJ (not necessarily painful)

To learn more about the connection between head and neck injuries and TMJ, download our complimentary e-book by clicking the image below.

What Not To Do When Your TMJ is causing problems

• Avoid chewing gum - chewing gum can be causing you to overwork the muscles of your jaw.  
• Don’t sleep on your stomach - when your head is turned to the side through the night, it puts a lot of strain on your neck that can transfer to your jaw.
• Don’t carry a heavy purse or briefcase on one side - carrying a load on one side, as you would do when carrying a purse, briefcase, or messenger-style bag, can cause your spine to compensate.  This can lead to back, neck, and jaw pain, discomfort, and misalignment.
• Avoid biting your fingernails - biting your nails, chewing on the end of your pen or pencil, and other habits that might fly under the radar can be contributing to your TMJ problems.
• Make sure you’re not slouching - if you spend a good chunk of the day sitting, it’s important to maintain good posture and not slouch.  When your back and shoulders round forward, it brings your head out in front of your body as well, creating excess tension in the jaw.

Things to Do That Can Help with TMJ Pain

• Make time to meditate - taking a few minutes each day for meditation or relaxation can reduce stress and potentially help to ease TMJ pain.  Focusing on relaxing the muscles in your scalp, face, jaw, and neck can be of particular benefit for TMJD sufferers.
• Get regular exercise - there are so many benefits to establishing a regular exercise routine, but stress reduction and endorphin release can ease the pain and discomfort of TMJ disorders.
• Sleep on your back or side - back or side-sleeping keep your back and neck in much more neutral alignment than sleeping on your stomach with your neck turned maximally to one side.  Choosing to sleep on your back or side can ease tension on the temporomandibular joints.
• Choose a backpack instead - rather than lugging around a heavy purse, briefcase, or bag that places the load over only one shoulder, opt for a two-strap backpack instead.  Allowing your spine to carry a more evenly distributed load can help your neck and jaw to avoid unnecessary strain.
• Try massaging your face - gently rubbing tight muscles that control movements of the face and jaw can relieve tension.  Use small, gentle, circular motions with your index and/or middle fingers. With clean hands, you can also try to massage the muscles on the inside of your mouth.  Rubbing the muscles on the back and sides of the neck can also help reduce tension.
• Do have your atlas alignment checked by an upper cervical chiropractor - the atlas is the uppermost vertebra in the neck.  It supports the head and sits in very close proximity to the TMJ on either side of the face, just behind the ears.  If the atlas has misaligned, it can have a negative impact on the resting position and alignment of the jaw.

Upper Cervical Chiropractic a Great Option for Natural TMJD Relief

Most TMJ sufferers would agree that when their jaw is troubling them, their neck is too.  When the head is not positioned neutrally on top of the neck, changes that need to occur to keep your head balanced can cause abnormal compensations by the jaw.  Upper cervical chiropractic is aimed at restoring normal atlas alignment. The atlas bears the weight of the head, and when not aligned properly, can influence jaw function and cause the many symptoms of TMJD.  Additionally, the atlas surrounds and protects the brainstem, and from the brainstem branch the nerves that control many of the muscles of the jaw and face.

At Precision Spine Specialists, we offer people in the Brentwood, TN community a natural option for lasting TMJ relief.  Our care is gentle, precise, and highly individualized. Once normal atlas alignment is achieved, the jaw can return to its normal function by moving properly and having normal nerve supply.  If you deal with TMJ pain, discomfort, and dysfunction, contact us to schedule a complimentary consultation so we can find out more about how we may be able to help.

References:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tmj/symptoms-causes/syc-20350941

http://www.tmj.org/site/page?pageId=229

To schedule a consultation with Dr. Hall, call our Brentwood office at 615-488-7891 or just click the button below.

If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com