Temporomandibular joint disorder can make life difficult by causing debilitating symptoms that interfere with just about everything. Headaches, jaw pain, chewing difficulties and other symptoms make it hard to work; they also make it nearly impossible for sufferers to enjoy everyday things most of us take for granted. By itself, TMD is capable of making life miserable. Unfortunately, sometimes people exacerbate their symptoms by maintaining bad habits.
Smokers Suffer More
Most everyone knows that smoking is associated with serious, deadly diseases. Now, a new study indicates that it may also enhance the negative effects of temporomandibular joint disorder. Published in the Journal of Orofacial Pain, the study involved a review of previous data collected on 3,251 TMD patients. After evaluating the symptoms of each patient, the researchers noticed that smokers reported higher pain severity. What’s more, these same patients were less likely to respond to treatments when compared to patients who did not smoke.
What’s the Correlation?
Researchers aren’t sure why smokers experience worse TMD symptoms; however, their study revealed other interesting facts that could hold the answer. In addition to reporting worse TMD symptoms, smokers also suffered from significantly higher rates of sleep disturbances, depression and anxiety. All three of these issues hold the power to enhance the effects of TMD and any other chronic disorder which causes debilitating symptoms.
Help for Anyone
If you smoke, this recent study gives you another good reason to quit. That being said, even if you do quit smoking, your TMD symptoms will persist. In the end, it doesn’t really matter whether you smoke cigarettes or not; you need an effective treatment for your condition.
Dr. Berry offers his patients lasting relief from temporomandibular joint disorder by providing a treatment plan which targets the root cause of the problem: a bad bite. To learn how you can get permanent relief from TMD, please call (303) 691-0267 at the TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado in Denver today.
