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Symptoms & Treatment for TMJ

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders affect the joints that connect your jaw bone to your skull. These joints are located on the sides of your face next to your ears. TMJ disorders can arise from abnormalities in the cartilage, muscles, nerves, teeth, ligaments or blood vessels near one of these joints.

  1. Symptoms

    • TMJ can manifest through various symptoms such as dull facial pain, headache, jaw pain and earache. TMJ can also affect your ability to chew and can cause an uneven bite, discomfort, and limited ability to open your mouth. You may also hear popping noises when you move your jaw, or grating sounds when you chew.

    Prevention

    • You can relieve TMJ that results from prolonged clenching and grinding of the teeth due to stress by learning stress management techniques. Listen to relaxation tapes and meditate to help relax the muscles in your face and neck, thereby relieving stress on your joints. If you start to feel TMJ symptoms, rest your jaw by eating soft foods while waiting on your joint to heal, and avoid crunching on ice or chewing gum.

    Treatment

    • TMJ may resolve on its own. You can treat the symptoms with home remedies such as applying moist heat to your jaw for 20 minutes 4 times daily. Massaging the muscles around your joints may help relieve pain. More severe cases of TMJ may require medical treatment with medications, including ibuprofen to reduce swelling, or a shot of cortisone directly into the joint to reduce inflammation. The Mayo Clinic lists several additional drugs as potentially useful in treating TMJ: tricyclic antidepressants, muscle relaxants and botulism toxin---all of which help relieve pain.

      According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, doctors have used mouth guards for decades to treat TMJ, although they don't work for everyone. Their purpose is to keep your jaw in an open, relaxed position so you do not clench your teeth.

      Advanced cases of TMJ may require surgery, which could come in the form of dental work that helps even out your bite by replacing lost fillings or missing teeth. As a last resort, your doctor or dentist may recommend joint replacement to restore the movement of your jaw and alleviate chronic pain.

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