Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, or TMD, is a condition that causes pain or discomfort for the joint in the jaw.
Dr Danny Lamm and the team here in Malvern East, Melbourne are committed to assisting with pain relief for our patients suffering from Temporomandibular jaw disorders. Find out why TMD disorder may be affecting you as well as the causes and symptoms of the condition.
The human body works as a whole
When we are treating patients who have jaw pain, it’s important to consider that the tension in the jaw could be related to other concerns as well, such as back pain. When muscles contract in certain areas of the body, it can tend to have a domino effect on other muscles.
Isolating the cause of discomfort
When a patient suffers from TMJ problems, the jaw pain may be a side effect of something else in the body. TMJ disorder can be brought on by a combination of problems. When treating TMJ disorder (TMD), we can’t always take away every bit of pain from your body. What we can do is alleviate one of the symptoms. Quite often when we alleviate tension in the jaw muscle, headaches fade away, neck and back aches improve.
What is the temporomandibular Joint?
The Tempromandibular Joint (TMJ) is the joint that connects the jaw bone to the skull. This particular joint is located just below the ear. The TMJ joint operates in a ‘ball and socket’ movement and needs correct alignment of the muscles to function without fault. These particular joints are needed for the functions like chewing, eating, talking and breathing.
How do you get TMJ disorder?
There are a number of different causes behind TMJ disorder:
- Stress
- Trauma
- Grinding
- Clenching
- Poor tooth restoration
- Grinding / nocturnal grinding
- Rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis
Often times TMD is bought on during sleep. The patient may be clenching or grinding their teeth at night, causing them to feel tired and sore in the morning.
Identifying the symptoms
For those suffering from TMJ disorder, there is a number of symptoms that may be experienced. The symptoms may also affect other areas of the body – reaching much further than just the jaw.
Symptoms include:
- Neck pain
- Shoulder pain
- Consistent headaches
- Limited jaw movement
- Discomfort when opening the jaw
- Clicking or popping of the jaw
- Locking the jaw into position
- Tiredness after sleep
- Trouble sleeping
- Sensitive teeth
- Worn teeth
- Migraines
- Earaches
Treating TMD disorder
Splint therapy helps to change the relationship of the muscles in the jaw. It can take time but it is a very effective treatment. Muscle relaxants may also be used as a plausible treatment. For more information on TMD disorder, contact Dr Danny Lamm and his team at Malvern East near Melbourne today.
