TMJ/TMD
Sleep on your back:
· In order to sleep on your back, the natural curvature of the spine must be preserved.
· Place a pillow underneath your knees and either a small pillow or a rolled towel underneath your neck for support.
Apply moist heat:
· Apply to the areas that ache using a heating pad that supplies moist heat or a dry heating pad in combination with a moist
towel.
· Do this for periods of 20 minutes twice each day.
· Hot showers, saunas, or steam baths may be helpful.
Limit the intake of sugar, caffeine and nicotine:
· Sugar and caffeine are stimulants to the nervous system, which results in increased muscle activity. In most cases, we are
trying to rest muscles in order to heal painful spasms.
· Nicotine causes blood sugar to rise, which again increases muscle activity.
Avoid clenching your teeth:
· Try to remember, “Lips together, teeth apart.”
Avoid foods that require a lot of chewing:
· This includes excessively hard or sticky foods.
· NO gum chewing.
Beware of opening your mouth excessively wide:
· This tends to stretch the muscles and ligaments within the jaw beyond their capacity to heal.
· No vocal strain such as voice lessons, choir singing, or cheerleading.
· No unnecessary clicking maneuvers
Analgesics:
· Non-prescription medications taken around the clock may be very effective in breaking the cycle of pain and inflammation.· The most likely are either coated aspirin products or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Advil or Nuprin).
