The Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the joint that connects your upper and lower jaws at the side of your head. TMJ syndrome is the name given to pain caused by that joint.
Causes
The causes of the syndrome can be divided into two main categories. Traumatic causes may result from internal or external factors. External factors include things like a punch to the jaw or impact from an accident. Internal causes include clenching of the jaw and grinding of the teeth. This will put continuous pressure on the TMJ, causing pain.
The other category involves inflammatory changes. With osteoarthritis there is a degeneration of the joint. What happens is that the cartilage between the two bone surfaces breaks down. With rheumatoid arthritis there is inflammation of the joint. This can also cause destruction of the cartilage, or cause bone erosion, leading to joint deformity.
Symptoms
There are a number of symptoms that may occur with TMJ syndrome. You may have painful TMJ as well as pain in the muscles of the face. This may radiate to the neck and shoulders, and you can also suffer from muscle spasms. The pain will generally be felt when you chew, talk or yawn. In serious cases you may get pain in the ears as well as ringing of the ears.
You may also get clicking of the jaw, which indicates that the joint is not in the normal position. In most cases this will be painful. There may also be limited movement of the jaw or it may deviate to one side. In some cases the jaw may lock when it is side open, indicating that the jaw has been dislocated.
Self care
Milder cases of TMJ syndrome do not generally require medical attention. There are a number of things that you can do at home. This will generally involve removing aggravating factors. These may require you to stop eating hard foods like nuts and things that require an extensive amount of chewing like gum. You can apply a warm compress to the area that is paining and this will help to relive the pain. After you have done this you can do some gentle jaw exercises of opening and closing and side-to-side movement.
Treatment
Treatment will depend on the cause. When the condition no longer responds to home therapy then there are a number of medical alternatives. The first thing you will probably get is analgesia for the pain and anti-inflammatories to help reduce the inflammation. If your condition is due to grinding of teeth or jaw clenching then you may be fitted with a bite plate. This will reduce the amount of pressure transferred from your lower to upper jaw, and subsequently to your TMJ.
If conservative management doesn’t work then there are more invasive options. The joint can be cleaned by injecting special fluid into it. A corticosteroid can also be injected into it to help reduce the inflammation. The TMJ itself can be replaced by an artificial one, but this is reserved for very severe cases.
