What Are The Symptoms, Causes and Some Options for Managing TMJ Pain?
Do you ever experience pain in the muscles on the side of your face or in the joint where your jaw attaches to your skull? Do you ever experience “lockjaw” or problems completely opening or closing your mouth and jaw? Have you ever noticed a “clicking” sound when you open and shut your mouth? Do you suffer from seemingly unexplained neck pain, ear aches and even headaches that seem to be located near your temples? If you’ve answered yes to one or more of those questions, you may be among the 25 to 30% of Canadians who suffer from temporomandibular joint disorders (based on statistics kept by the Canadian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons). Your temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the hinge that attaches your lower jaw to your skull on each side of your face. If you place your finger on the side of your face and open and close your jaw, you’ll feel that hinge and joint at work. What causes temporomandibular joint disorders and pain? There are a wide variety of known causes of