[Sca-cooks] Re: something to chew on, literally - OT

[Louise Smithson]

OK I have suffered with this and it is horrible and
there are a few things you can do and very little your
dentist can do in the short term.
Don't use your jaw, that means no chewing anything, go
with soft food that you don't have to chew. Limit
talking etc. No clenching your teeth (absolutely the
opposite of what you need to be doing and often the
thing that starts it off in the first place)
You may try stretching your jaw gently (just let it
drop down and hold it) don't try to force it you will
just worsen the inflammation.
Take NSAIDS (non steriodal anti-inflamitory drugs)
either ibuprofen or alleve or if you have them some of
the fancy new prescription NSAIDS.
Put some moist heat on there, take a face cloth, run
under a hot tap, wring out the water, hold on the side
of your face.
You can visit your dentist but all that they can do is
prescribe you anti-inflammitories and tell you to do
what I just did (this is where I got the advice in the
first place).  If this is a recurrent problem they can
help to reduce incidence by making you a bite guard,
this positions your teeth so that you can not clench
your jaw at any time.  Of course these take about two
weeks to make after you have the casts made, by which
point the TMJ has resolved itself anyway.
The longest I had it for was 4 weeks, but by the time
I went in to see the TMJ specialist it was 80%
resolved, and yes having your jaw lock open sucks.

Good luck and take it easy.

Helewyse
> feels like the hinge is popped/off track, and it
won't stay where it
> belongs. Today it doesn't hurt much unless I try to
open my mouth
wide
> enough to put something in, then it sticks and won't
open without a
lot of
> banging and popping. My ear is blocked on that side
too. I'd sooner
chew
> ground glass than go back in to the dentist. Any
grand ideas before I
> resign myself to my fate and call in in the morning?
>
> I've tried:
>
> Big yawns (ow)
> stretching slowly (bang! snap! ow!)
> chewing gum
> eating apples (*ow!*)
> chewing dry pasta
> muscle relaxants
> meditating on my iniquities (hey- makes me clench my
jaw- which might
help!)
>
> It would be really nice if I could get my toothbrush
in my mouth
without
> using a shoehorn...
>
> 'Lainie


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