quote: Originally posted by: blubirde "My mom has TMJ (she swears I have it too but whatever, she's no doctor). She got a mouthguard made also but she wore hers during the day. She didn't change anything she ate but when the pain would start for her (she got headaches), she'd just pop in the mouthguard for a few hours and it would go away and be good after that. Anyway, that was a couple years ago and she hardly ever breaks out her mouthguard now. But she had to go to her dentist to get it. Also I recommend doing some relaxing exercises before you go to bed so you can release the tension in your jaw. I'm a bad clencher when I get stressed and it really helps, night or day but especially before I go to sleep."
What kind of exercises do you recommend? I'll try anything! I am defintely going to talk to my dentist - I probably need a mouth guard.
i just wore the mouthguard, quite chewing gum and chewy candy, took the advil and meds the dentist gave me and did the soft diet for 2-3 months and now things are back to normal. i think it was all the stress when we lost the baby and my FIL was murdered back in Sept.
if i notice problems with the tmj again -- i will follow same procedure as before.
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Many of the women in my family have TMJ...I thought it was hereditary, but maybe it's just the habits or the hormones that are hereditary.
My sister had it the worst...she had some kind of surgery, though. I guess it was a pretty simple procedure (outpatient oral surgery) but she said it's much better now.
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
quote: Originally posted by: shopchicago33 "What kind of exercises do you recommend? I'll try anything! I am defintely going to talk to my dentist - I probably need a mouth guard."
I personally do some simple yoga relaxation techniques. The kind you do at the beginning of a yoga class when you're coming into mountain pose. Or maybe some people only do them at the end of the class during relaxation? Either way, it just involves relaxing your body from head to toe. For me, I have to physically force the tension from my jaw by stretching it, lying on my back, letting my jaw slack a little, and pushing my head back. Sometimes it takes a few minutes but eventually all the stress will work its way out.