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TMJ is a painful and difficult problem to live with, but there are various treatments that can help.

A maxillo facial surgeon could order a special guard to wear over the bottom teeth at night, keeping the lower jaw at a slightly open and more relaxed angle. It takes a couple of weeks for the benefit of this mouth guard to be felt, but it makes a big difference. Your doctor or dentist could refer you for one.

There are also non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs that can be prescribed, although as they have side effects, most doctors would prescribe them with caution and for a short term only. Many of these medicines are now available over the counter in the form of gels or creams that you rub in to a painful area. Two in particular are Voltarel Emulgel from diclophenac and Ibuleve from ibuprofen. Some people say that they work very well.

There are herbal remedies available from the Health Shop. One that might help is Devils Claw, made from a root that grows in the Kalahari and is very helpful in joint pain. Glucosamine could be worth looking at as well, and it is sometimes combined with chondroitin for extra effectiveness. Again, the benefits of these herbal remedies are not felt straight away, but if they are taken regularly, after a few weeks, you may very well notice an improvement.

While you are thinking about what to try, I recommend the application of heat. Hold a hot water bottle over the joints for a while, then massage the muscle gently. After about 5 minutes, you could hook two fingers over the teeth on the lower jaw and gently pull downwards, gently stretching the muscles by opening the mouth. My TMJ problem mostly disappeared when I was 25 or so, but sometimes I still need to stretch my jaw muscles. It is usually when I am stressed and have been clenching my jaw without being aware of it. So if you have stress for some reason, just check and see how hard you are clenching your jaw as it will make the TMJ problem worse.

Hope this helps.

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13y ago

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