Every day, you smile, chew, talk, and laugh for different reasons. However, if you suffer from a temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, you may experience pain whenever you perform these movements. While the majority of TMD symptoms may resolve in no time, some worse conditions can be exacerbated by some harmful habits or behaviors that strain the muscles in your jaw and neck. Thankfully, treating TMJ disorder in Los Gatos is possible and there are things you can do to manage your TMJ pain. 

The muscles and ligaments used for moving the mouth are linked with the TMJ. Your lower jawbone and skull meet in this joint. Temporomandibular disorders such as dislocation, arthritis, infection, or injury in this joint can lead to painful jaw clicking and locking, neck pain, headaches, and ringing in the ears. Keep reading to learn how to effectively manage TMJ disorder or TMD:

Keep Your Jaw’s Resting Position

To relieve TMJ pain, reduce jaw movements like yawning, chewing, yelling, and singing. Focus on keeping the muscles relaxed. 

Correct Your Posture

When you sit in a bad position for a long time, you may feel more jaw pain. Every time you work, use a chair that has back support and take breaks frequently to enhance your posture. Also, when you do leisure activities like reading or watching TV, select a space that lets you sit upright and support your back with a pillow. 

Get Quality Sleep

Sleep is essential for a lot of aspects of good health. Sleeping on the back and supporting the neck with pillows can reduce TMJ pain. Never sleep on your stomach. If you like to sleep on one side, ensure your hands are not on your jaw. 

Minimize Stress

Loosening and relaxing the jaw can be possible with meditation techniques. Also, yoga practice can reduce muscle stress. You can also try gardening to relax your face and calm your mind. 

Perform Jaw Exercises

Exercises that target the jaw can increase joint mobility. To alleviate jaw pain, you can perform stretch exercises, relaxation exercises, and strengthening exercises. 

Avoid Some Foods and Activities

With certain foods and activities, you will need to forcefully open your mouth or move your jaw. If you have TMJ pain, you should avoid hard or crunchy foods, yelling or yawning, taking big bites, and chewing gum. 

For some of those who have TMD, pain relief exercises do not work. In this case, they may need to undergo surgery for their condition.