My jaw has been popping in and out of place for the last few days. It is rather painful, and often times my mouth will not shut fully (teeth to teeth) unless it goes through a painful pop. I would love to go to a dentist, but I don't have dental insurance and really can't afford to pay for treatment out of pocket. Does anyone have suggestions on ways to treat this myself? I'm avoiding gum and chewy hard foods already. Thank you so much, everyone!
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If professional treatment is simply out of the question, you can nurse this along at home for some degree of relief. I am not a huge advocate of drug store appliances, but I recognize their place for individuals such as you who just can't afford proper treatment. If you twist your ankle, you might decide to take it easy for a few days and you might even use a set of crutches that you happen to have from a previous injury. You have to rest the joint and allow it time to heal. That's common sense. If you try this for a few days and nothing gets better, you give up the idea and go to the doctor. With that introduction, let me say that I have never seen you and I have not diagnosed your condition. I am not telling you that this is the proper solution for your problem. I am simply giving you an overview of what might work in many cases as a temporary home measure. If you attempt this and find that things get worse instead of better, discontinue it immediately and seek professional help. If you find that this helps a little, but it is necessary for you to continue this home treatment for an extended period of time, you should also consider that you have more than a simple soft tissue injury and seek professional help. Okay, my disclaimer and the background information are complete. Go to the drug store and look for the TMJ appliance or bite guard that has a pad on the left and right for you to bite on. In short term, emergency care, this design will be much more effective and less likely to cause damage than the kind that fits over all of your teeth. Buy this appliance and read the label directions and follow those directions. Here is a home therapy routine that is good to use in conjunction with wearing the above appliance, but it might give you some relief even without the appliance. 1. Run some fairly hot water into your bathroom sink. 2. Soak TWO washcloths in the water. 3. Squeeze most of the water out of the washcloths and apply them to your face in the area of your TMJ just in front of your ears. 4. Every minute or two, wet the washcloths again, squeeze them out and apply to your face as above. 5. After about 15-20 minutes of this routine, you need to stretch out your joints so they don't "freeze up" on you. 6. Look in the mirror and make funny faces. Yes, that's what I said. Move your chin to the left and then to the right, about as far as you can. Repeat this several times, for about 5-10 seconds. Open and close your mouth several times. Jut your chin forward and plop it back where it belongs repeatedly. 7. Start the face-making all over again and repeat this for several minutes until the skin over youth TMJ's is back to normal temperature. 8. After you have done this therapy, wear the TMJ appliance for at least half an hour, if not all night for sleep. Repeat that routine 3 times a day, evenly spaced through out the day. Your morning session could be done using warm water in the shower, for instance. If you have had popping for more than about 6 weeks, you are not going to make it go away. You might get the pain to go away, but you will not get the noise to go away. As with any other joint injury, you need to take it easy on your TMJ. You would do this by being careful about what you eat. Avoid tough, chewy foods or hard things, like hard candy or pretzels. Avoid opening your mouth to any excessive opening. Before you bite a sandwich, for instance, smash it down so that you will not have to open any more than about one inch to get it into your mouth. Consider cutting a sandwich or any other food into small bites. Continue all of this with care and caution for at least 3 or 4 weeks. If you do not have considerable relief by then, you may have actual damage to the structures of your TMJ and you will need professional help. If you feel like your teeth don't come together properly after completing a home therapy session, you need to have your bite evaluated by a competent dentist. Good luck and please, use good sense.
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