Temporomandibular joint disorder or TMJ disorder is a condition that primarily affects adults and causes discomfort to your jaw bone. The exact cause is largely unknown, but risk factors include crooked or missing teeth, face injury, history of grinding teeth, or a jaw misalignment. If you feel as though your jaw or teeth are in pain whenever you bite down, smile, or talk, then you should pay a visit to your a dental clinic to see what you can do about it. A variety of treatments exist for people with TMJ disorders and you might want to consider talking to your dentist in evanston about TMJ therapies to decrease your pain and increase your jaw’s mobility.
The stretches are simple and easy.
TMJ therapies often includes stretches and exercises to strengthen and relax your jaw. These exercises do not take much effort and they are very subtle. They usually just require you to open and close your mouth while you use your fingers to apply some pressure to your jaw. You can do these stretches whenever and wherever you want without scheduling appointments with physical therapists or chiropractors. You also do not need to spend time purchasing mouth-guards or various medications to help you out. All you need to do ask your dentist about which type of exercises will work best for you.
You have a lot of choices for therapy.
Simple stretches are not the only form of TMJ treatment and, if the exercises do not end up working for you, then there are other types of therapies that you can choose from. If you want more intense exercises, you can try physical therapy. If you want to find better ways of easing the pain, you can try acupuncture. You can even talk to your dentist about biofeedback, which is a therapy that includes heart and brain monitors to try to more specifically identify and treat some of the root causes of your discomfort.
Studies suggest that it works.
Doctors do not fully know the causes and cures of TMJ disorders and more research is definitely still needed to fully understand the condition. However, most of the randomized clinical trials on TMJ therapies all seem to suggest that many different types of therapy can undoubtedly work to treat TMJ disorders. Some of these treatments even work to treat other types of medical conditions.
TMJ therapies are not the only way to treat TMJ disorders. However, they can definitely help if you are interested. You should speak to a dentist in Evanston if therapy is something that interests you.
Visit Stephens Dentistry for more information about TMJ Therapy in Evanston.
