What can I do for TMJ pain in O’Fallon, MO?

What Can I Do for TMJ Pain?

Are you feeling pain in your jaw joints every day? These joints are called the temporomandibular joints (TMJs), and there are many issues that can lead to pain in these joints if you live in O’Fallon, Missouri. However, there are also several easy things you can do to treat TMJ pain. 

1.   Use a mouthguard in bed

Grinding and gnashing the teeth is something many people do unconsciously while sleeping. However, these actions can be the cause of your TMJ pain. One way you can treat this cause is to wear a mouthguard while you sleep. Mouthguards are readily available at local stores, and they only take a few minutes to customize to your teeth. They will also provide a protective barrier against nighttime teeth grinding, and not grinding your teeth can help reduce your TMJ pain. 

2.   Eat soft foods

Chewing is a movement that specifically requires TMJ movement, and it’s something that most people do hundreds of times every day. However, this movement can also cause TMJ pain, and this is especially true if tight muscles or other issues are causing a misalignment of the TMJs. To help decrease your TMJ pain, you might want to consider eating softer foods. For example, you could go on a smoothie or juice diet until the pain subsides. You could also make an effort to eat softer foods like eggs, applesauce and oatmeal. 

3.   Support your jaw

When you’re already dealing with TMJ pain, yawning can be an experience to avoid. However, it’s almost impossible to stop yourself from yawning. After all, it is an involuntary reaction. What you can do to help decrease the TMJ pain yawning can cause is support your jaw. This means that when you feel the need to yawn, you should place a fist under your jaw. Then, lightly press up into your jaw as you yawn. This will allow you to decrease the stress the movement places on your TMJ. 

Physical therapy can also help reduce TMJ pain in O’Fallon, MO

At Excel Sports & Physical Therapy, our team is proud to offer many types of physical therapy to the O’Fallon area. For example, we offer treatment plans that can help treat TMJ pain and its causes. Our plans are personalized to each patient, and these plans are designed with therapy techniques like: 

Take the next step to get our help treating your TMJ pain. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.