How do you treat tmj?

Treating TMJ: Temporal mandibular joint disease (TMJ) is a pain in the jaw joint and jaw muscles related to grinding or gritting your teeth at night, malocclusion, stress, and excessive use of gum or other chewable substance. Simple pain medications over the counter, stress reduction, and possibly a muscle relaxant can help. A dental appliance called a bite block may be needed when meds fail.

IMS: C. Chan gunn, md uses dry needling to release the muscles of mastication. Curative treatment ... Anything less is a pacifier. You have to get your doctor to use solid or hypodermic needles to release the muscles. Heat, stretching and massage are part of the treatment.

Other options: Muscle relaxation can be achieved without needles. Ultra low frequency tens in combination with a properly designed and adjusted anatomical orthosis (bite splint) can completely resolve the symptoms of tmj/tmd.

Depends of the cause: There are many treatments available that range from surgery, to physical therapy and to splint therapy. Have your dentist evaluate you.

Diagnosis: In order to effectively treat disorders of the tmjs, one must first discern if the problem is arthrogenous (boney), myogenous (muscular) or a combination. Most TMJ disorders are myogenous and therapies would be consistant with treating other muscular disorders: rest, ice/heat, physical therapy, medications, congnative behavioral therapies and in some cases, oral splints.

A few things: Depends on symptoms, and cause of symptoms. 3 signs of TMJ dysfunction: joint noises, joint pain & limited oral opening. Self treat with soft diet, jaw exercises, massage, heat/cold, OTC pain meds. A splint or physical therapy would be next. Occasionally muscle relaxants, biofeedback. Xrays are done for diagnosis. Surgery usually reserved for serious symptoms not responsive to other treatments.