Jaw Pain and Tmd

Jaw Pain and TMD

To children, it is an apt name for a 2.6 ounce, 1¼-inch round rock-hard candy. As for the rest of us, well, let?s just say that jawbreaker doesn?t exactly conjure visions of a sugar-coated delight. If anything, the term serves as a reminder of the foods, stresses, or health problems that can be a real pain in the jaw for older Americans.

?Jaw pain is very common among people over age 60,? says Paul A. Andrews, D.D.S., dentist in Maitland, Florida, who practices therapeutic management of head, neck, and facial pain. ?Seniors are simply more susceptible to arthritis or falls that can injure the jaw. Often, jaw pain is a progressive problem that sneaks up on you. In fact, even if your jaw was injured in your forties or fifties, the symptoms may not cause noticeable problems until 15 or 20 years later when osteoporosis and other diseases set in and compound the damage done by that old injury.?

Once your doctor has ruled out the possibility of a jaw fracture, the prime suspect will probably be TMD (temporomandibular disorder), which is an inflammation or misalignment of the joint that connects the jaw to the head. In studies, up to 75 percent of people have signs of TMD, including muscle pain and clicking, popping, or grating noises in the jaw, Dr. Andrews says.

Often, TMD and other forms of mild jaw pain are temporary and can be relieved by these simple home remedies, Dr. Andrews suggests.

Try This First

Give your jaw a break. Treat your sore jaw as if it were a sore ankle, advises Flora Parsa Stay, D.D.S., dentist in Oxnard, California, and author of The Complete Book of Dental Remedies. If your ankle were sore, you?d stay off it. The same rule applies to the jaw. While your jaw aches, try not to open it too wide. If you?re a big yawner, that means you?ll have to restrain yourself to avoid stretching your mouth too wide. But even when you?re not yawning, you should be conscious of what position your jaw is in. Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and keep your lips closed. That will help keep your teeth slightly ajar and keep your jaw in a relaxed position. Breathe through your nose. The only time your teeth should touch, Dr. Stay says, is when you are chewing or swallowing.

Other Wise Ways

Hit it with an iceberg. Cold compresses can take the sting out of sore muscles surrounding the jaw, Dr. Andrews explains. Cold helps relax muscle spasms and numbs pain.

After you begin feeling pain, wrap an ice pack in a towel and hold it against your jaw for 20 minutes. Keep it off for 20 minutes, then apply the ice pack once more. Repeat as often as necessary to help ease the soreness.

Then melt it. If the pain persists for more than 36 hours, use a heat pack instead of a cold pack, following the same routine as you did when applying cold. The heat increases blood flow to injured tissues and helps them heal, Dr. Andrews says.

Toss the nuts. Avoid nuts, steaks, hard candies, caramels, and other chewy or crunchy foods when your jaw hurts, Dr. Andrews suggests. Stick with a soft diet that includes foods like macaroni and cheese; meat loaf; steamed vegetables; bananas; and other tender fruits; juices; and water until the pain subsides.

Unplug the coffeepot. Caffeine increases muscle tension and makes the nervous system more sensitive to pain. So steer clear of coffee, teas, colas, chocolate, and other caffeine-laden beverages and foods if your jaw aches, Dr. Stay recommends.

Stoke up on C. Take vitamin C supplements. They?ll help your body repair connective tissue surrounding the jaw and hasten healing, Dr. Stay says. She recommends taking 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily. (Vitamin C in doses above 1,200 milligrams per day may cause diarrhea in some people.)

Use your noggin?. Meditation may help relax muscles and relieve jaw pain, according to Dr. Andrews. ?Many older people have carried strains and tensions in their jaw joints all of their lives, and now all that stress is beginning to show up as pain,? he says.

Focus on your breath as a simple, powerful way to meditate, he says. To try it, sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and take a couple of deep breaths. Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of 4, then slowly exhale through your mouth as you count to 10. Once you get accustomed to that pattern, stop counting breaths and focus all of your attention on the rhythm of your breathing as you inhale and exhale. To help you stay focused, try this: As you breathe in, think to yourself, ?Calm mind.? As you exhale, think, ?Peaceful body.? If your mind begins to drift, simply refocus your attention on your breath. Do this for 10 to 15 minutes a day or whenever your jaw pain seems worse, Dr. Andrews advises.

Glide into slumber. Devote your last waking hour each day to enjoyable activities like pleasurable reading, listening to soothing music, or soaking in a warm bath, suggests Gretchen Gibson, D.D.S., director of the geriatric dentistry program at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Dallas. These routines will help relax your facial muscles and lessen the chances that you?ll clench your teeth while you sleep.

?Don?t do laundry, clean the kitchen, or take out the garbage at 9:45 p.m. and then hop into bed at 10:00. Your body won?t be relaxed and you?ll be more apt to wake up with jaw pain the next morning,? Dr. Gibson says.

Straighten up and chew right. Poor posture forces your shoulders and head to pitch forward in order to maintain your balance, Dr. Andrews says That can put extra strain on your jaw muscles and pull your teeth out of alignment, so chewing is more difficult.

To alleviate this problem, lie on a carpeted floor so that your back, shoulders, and the back of your head all touch the floor at the same time. Remain lying in that position for 15 to 20 minutes a day, Dr. Andrews suggests. If you like, you can prop your legs up on a pillow or chair.

Eyeball your dentures. Jaw pain can be a sign that your dentures are worn out and need to be replaced, Dr. Andrews warns. Check with your dentist.