TMJ (Jaw Issues) Cures

I had severe lock jaw two months ago; I completely understand your pain. I too could only open my mouth maybe one finger width. Went to the dentist; wasn't worth it..she tried to manipulate the jaw to no avail and suggested a mouth guard. No thanks! I got tired of squishing my sandwiches and eating soup.

So I went to my chiropractor and he showed me how to help rid of my freak TMJ, (happened with me sleeping with a hand under my jaw). Here are the chiropractor tips:

-Massage jaw from the inside: You insert your index finger behind the top back tooth and follow it downwards until you feel the jaw bone canal and massage by rotating your finger clockwise repeatedly but slowly. Do this a few times a day. (You know you'll have the right spot because it will hurt. Once the muscle relaxes it gets better.)

-Stretch the jaws: place your index finger and middle finger on the side of your left jaw and press to the right for 10 seconds, repeat the other direction.

-Alternate Stretching of Jaw: place your index fingers besides your nose and place your thumbs on your chin pressing downwards. repeat 3 to 5 times; 3 times a day.

-warm compresses on each side of the jaw a few times a day.

-sleep on your back if possible

-take tylenol when needed

-stay away from foods that cause to open your mouth widely and/or crunchy foods.

I did this for a few weeks continuously and was finally able to open my mouth to 3 fingers width. I still repeat all the above steps except the last one because I love pickles and saltless tortilla chips. I've been doing well.

I hope that you get to feeling better soon.

I'm no expert, but I think allowing the dentist to assess it is the first place to start. If it is TMJ and your dentist does not think it urgent to see a specialist then you can try different remedies... but don't you want to make sure that IS what is going on?

If it is TMJ there are supplements you could try, including an herbal de-stresser. A chiropractor might help too.

I did something like that one time. I yawned REALLY wide and I both felt and heard my jaw pop. It hurt for a second but then was fine. However, for WEEKS afterwards, if i had not been using my mouth for any length of time (in other words, had not been talking or had been asleep or whatever) it would get stiff like, where I couldn't open it up without pain. Just a dull achey pain, but it was pain. Then it would be okay once I was moving it for a few seconds/minutes. But if I kept it either open or shut for more than 10 minutes or so... it would ache the next time I opened my mouth for anything.

This is what my dentist advised me (after doing xrays that showed nothing in particular)... "you can throw away as much $$ as you want on TMJ treatment, but 99% of the time you will not get anything accomplished more than if you just waited it out" or something along those lines. Much like he told me with an issue with a "sensitive" filling I had... "the more you mess with it, the more you are irritating it". So LEAVE IT ALONE.

WHILE you are leaving it alone, this is what he told me to do: Take 2 Aleve tablets twice per day for 3 weeks. Do NOT eat anything that makes you open your mouth wide or requires lots of chewing or tearing. Sooo... no salads (yes, I was surprised by that too.. but he said most people don't realize how wide you open to insert the lettuce sticking off the fork), no steak, no hamburgers or piled high sandwiches, or lots of pasta wrapped around a fork. Stick to things like soup or casserole or whatever that doesn't require lots of strong chewing and doesn't require opening wide.

Follow that for the entire 3 weeks, EVEN when it starts feeling better.

Also, when you feel a yawn coming on, tuck your chin into your chest... it prevents your mouth from opening as widely that way.

I following this "prescription" and sure enough.. I felt much better after about 10 days or so. I stuck to it like he said and haven't had any more issues since. That was probably 8 years ago.

Basically, everytime you use it you are tensing up the muscles in your jaw/TMJ area. And you need to relax them and keep them relaxed. It's like a rubber band. And that muscle will get all tangled up in a knot and just won't relax properly once it is inflamed. So you have to get it "un-inflamed" and let it rest until it gets back to normal.

Hope this helps.

I had good luck with a chiropractor as well. Also, I once had a deep tissue massage on my jaw. It hurt--actually bruised a little bit--but it helped a lot.