TMJ is shorthand for Temporomandibular Joint. That refers to your temple area and your jaw bone (mandible.) The joint is supposed to move smoothly but when it doesn’t you may end up with a diagnosis of TMJ Dysfunction or TMJD.
What can cause your TMJ to stop moving smoothly?
- An injury or trauma that causes the joint to dislocate.
- Overuse of the powerful jaw muscles in certain positions.
- Sleeping always on the same side which may cause your jaw to “drop” to one side.
- Having a “forward head” posture which puts a lot of strain on your neck and jaw muscles.
- Dental work which mis-aligns your jaw by not lining up your teeth correctly.
- Scoliosis or curvature of the spine.
And, of course, there can be other causes but very often the cause turns out to be muscular. Everything on the list, above, except for the dental work, involves your muscles.
So, if the powerful chewing muscles become tighter on one side than the other, they can “pull” your jaw out of alignment.
But how can you get your smooth movement back?
That’s the good news! Muscles do get tight but they can be relaxed (released.) If you can help those jaw muscles relax, your TMJ can usually move back into its neutral position where it moved smoothly.
According to my training, an interesting thing about the disk in the TMJ is that it can regenerate itself. No other disk in the body can do that. How cool!
If you have a jaw that “clicks” being able to relax the muscles around the joint can help it realign itself and may get rid of your click. Sometimes you might need someone to help you correct your posture in order to eliminate the click.
In fact, your body is really smart and wants to be well. Sometimes it just needs you to learn a little more so you can help it get out of pain. But you can’t just learn–you also have to take action.
There are very simple movements that you can do to help the muscles around your head, face, throat and neck relax. When an area of your body lets go of tension, you will feel more relaxed all over. One of those movements is ‘pretend chewing.’ Close your lips and keep them together while gently pretending to chew.
The really good thing is that when all of those muscles are more in alignment and balanced, you will have fewer headaches, less neck pain–you’ll feel better in lots of ways.
Another way to take action is to find and go to a skilled massage therapist who can help you get rid of your TMJ pain. Since muscles are usually the culprit, someone who can help those muscles release or relax can give you a lot of relief. If your muscles are really, really tight, there may be some discomfort but if your therapist is well trained, you will benefit.
There are two actions you can take today.
- Make an appointment with a well-trained massage therapist or neuromuscular massage therapist. Check out the “Massage” Category here for an article on how to find a massage therapist who can help you.
- Look in the mirror and try to determine whether anything looks like it could be out of balance or lopsided. That could give you a starting point to go forward from.
You can learn how to stop suffering with TMJ pain and that’s a very good thing because you deserve to feel better!
