Can You Use Exercises for TMJ Pain Relief?

Exercises for TMJ pain relief are actually the first type of treatment plan every TMJ patient should explore. Actually, you need to see a dentist who is a TMJ specialist with experience treating the specific TMJ symptoms your are having and let them design a course of TMJ therapy custom tailored for your condition.

Exercises for TMJ (Temporomandibular joint) pain relief play an important role in all TMJ treatment plans. Since TMJ disorder is a physical condition and most physical conditions can be treated using physical therapy it's only logical to try therapeutic exercises for TMJ treatments. But the only way to know which ones are right for you is to see a TMJ doctor of some sort and get a treatment plan.

There are many different causes for the TMJ disorder and even more different symptoms you could be experiencing so getting a plan designed for you is the only way to go. Also, the most common cause of the TMJ disorder is gritting your teeth or grinding your teeth in your sleep because of high stress levels and if that's the case with you you'll want to make sure your treatment plan addresses those stress levels and does something about them.

As with any physical therapy designed to treat another joint in your body exercises for TMJ jaw disorder will first stretch out the muscles in an attempt to reduce swelling and improve the range of motion. Then the exercises will be designed to repair the surrounding muscles and strengthen them for protection against re-injury.

Stress is one of the leading causes so one of the first exercises for TMJ should be something like relaxing and breathing and trying to reduce stress. You could also put your tongue of the roof of your mouth and open your mouth as far as possible without your tongue losing contact. Do this slowly and hold it for a few seconds when you reach the limit.

The next of the exercises for TMJ you can try is designed to treat the popping or clicking of your jaw when you open your mouth. Keeping your tongue of the roof of your mouth and using your hand to guide it let your jaw drop down and back at the same time slowly and evenly. Do this exercise 5 times and try to do that 5 times per day.

This next exercise for TMJ is only to be tried after you have done the last exercise 5 times per day for 5 days. Keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth again, put your pointer fingers right on top of your TMJ joints in front of your ears. Then open your mouth and let your jaw move down and back in a straight up and down movement. Do this exercise 5 times per day for the next 5 days.

For this exercise you are going to do the same as before. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and put one finger over the TMJ that is giving you the most trouble. Put your other pointer finger on your chin to guide it and let your jaw go down and back in a straight movement and when you get to the point your tongue is coming off the roof of your mouth, let it lose contact and open as wide as you can without pain. Do this 5 times a day for the next 5 days.

I want to caution you though, make sure to check with your TMJ doctor before doing any exercise for TMJ and remember there are no quick fixes so you may have to keep trying for a while. But the alternative is surgery and you don' t want to resort to that until you have given every chance to be healed using exercises for TMJ.