TMJ is short for temporomandibular joint disorder. It is caused by various conditions that result in a degradation or displacement of the joint, including both bony parts and the cushioning disc between them. In many cases, there are unusual circumstances that cause your TMJ, but other times it may be due to an excess of wear and poor health. If you want to avoid TMJ, it’s recommended that you take care of your joints. Here’re some tips that may reduce your risk of TMJ.
Increase Exercise
In general, getting exercise helps to strengthen muscles and improve circulation. Your jaw muscles are always getting exercise. Even if you’re not the type to regularly jaw your day away at work, you’re swallowing constantly, and your jaw muscles flex naturally as part of breathing. They even participate in supporting your jawbone and keeping you in balance.
However, exercising other muscles can help your jawbone. If muscles that partner with the jaw muscles can be kept in better shape, it will help your jaw muscles to retain balance with less effort. This reduces the risk that your jaw muscles will be strained by having to help out other muscles.
Improving your circulation will bring more essential nutrients to your jawbone and jaw joint to help ensure their health.
Avoid High Impact Exercise
Although you should get regular exercise, high impact exercise can be bad for your jaw joint. Your jaw is only supported by soft tissue, including your muscles and the cartilage of the jaw joint. Every time you take a bounding step when jogging, that force gets translated up through your frame, typically from bone to bone via a cushioning disc, but when it comes to your jaw, there is no bone underneath to support it. Instead, your jaw hangs down and is pulled upward by the muscles and joint cartilage.
Low-impact exercise like swimming, biking, or walking can be best.
Joint-Healthy Nutrition
There are many compounds that may help support joint health, including jaw joint health. Calcium, along with vitamin D, can help strengthen the bones of the joint, increasing their resistance to damage that can result in painful bone splints.
Omega-3 fatty acids have shown promise in reducing joint swelling and pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, but the evidence isn’t especially strong for other joint problems. Glucosamine has been shown in some studies to promote joint health, though it works primarily as a treatment, not as a preventive measure.
Finally, S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) has shown great promise in osteoarthritis treatment. It may even be more effective than ibuprofen or naproxen in reducing osteoarthritis pain, and has been shown to stimulate cartilage repair.
If You’re Suffering Jaw Joint Pain
Preventive measures can also help if you’re already suffering jaw joint pain or other TMJ symptoms. They can reduce the progression of your condition and help promote TMJ treatment.
To learn more about comprehensive and effective TMJ treatment, please call (303) 691-0267 at the TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado in Denver today.
