Jaw jammed - what to do? What to do if your jaw is jammed at home - how to straighten it yourself The mouth is difficult to open, what to do

Clicking when moving the jaw is a common symptom, often caused by wide mouth opening. This happens with chewing, yawning, singing, laughing and loud talking. For what reasons does the jaw click when opening the mouth, and how is this condition treated?

Clicking in the jaw often occurs due to wide opening of the mouth

Clicking classification

There are several types of jaw clicks. They differ in the number of clicks, the volume of the sound and the position of the jaw during the process. Based on the number, jaw clicks are divided into single and multiple.

Based on sound volume, the following are distinguished:

• intense, audible to the patient and people nearby;
• not intense, audible only to the patient;
• silent, detected only during inspection.

There are 2 main meanings in the classification by mouth position:

1. When opening the mouth: a click may occur at the beginning of the process, with incomplete or wide opening of the mouth.
2. When closing the mouth: the jaw clicks at the beginning of closing the mouth or at the end when the jaws close.

This division is used for diagnosis and treatment: the position of the jaw that causes the click often indicates the cause of its occurrence.

Why does my jaw click when I open my mouth?

The appearance of clicks when moving the jaw indicates subluxation or dislocation in the jaw joint.

In medicine, this condition is called differently:

• TMJ dysfunction;
• chronic subluxation of the lower jaw;
• arthrosis of the TMJ.

The disease occurs due to stretching and weakening of the ligaments that support the jaw joint. As a result, the articular process comes out of the socket, which provokes a characteristic crunch near the ear. Most often, clicking and pain are localized on one side of the skull.

TMJ dysfunction can be caused by various reasons: both pathological and normal.

Possible diseases

Diseases that can cause a cracking sound when opening the mouth include diseases of the lower jaw, teeth and other parts of the body.

Other reasons

Other factors that cause jaw grinding include:

1. Stressful condition: emotional overstrain causes spasmodic muscle contractions, which lead to subluxation and clicking when opening the mouth.
2. Overload masticatory muscles: If the food is very hard or is constantly chewed on one side, the articular ligaments become overstrained and a crunching sound appears.
3. Incorrect dental treatment: incorrectly installed or unpolished fillings, as well as unsuitable dentures and braces cause constant clicking.
4. Physical activity: Lifting heavy weights and significant overload causes tension in the facial muscles, which can cause TMJ dysfunction.
5. Long performances: singing, reciting poetry or prose, speaking on stage provoke overstrain of the joint ligaments. Most often found in children.

If you have problems with your bite, it is better to contact an orthodontist if clicks appear in your jaw

Diagnostics

You can determine what is causing your jaw to crunch using the following procedures:

1. Examination, interviewing the patient, collecting anamnesis.
2. Palpation of the joint, determination of the type of bite.
3. Blood sampling to exclude the possibility of inflammation.
4. Neurological examination trigeminal nerve.
5. Hardware methods: ultrasound, electromyography, x-ray, MRI.
6. Arthroscopic examination of the diseased joint.

Treatment methods

Several methods are used to treat TMJ dysfunction:

1. Drug therapy that eliminates the cause of clicking.
2. Orthodontic reduction of the joint using muscle relaxants.
3. Replacing a filling, prosthesis, or braces, if the cause of the subluxation was them.
4. Physiotherapy and acupuncture, which accelerate the relief of inflammation.
5. Wearing an orthopedic splint to relieve excess stress on the joint.
6. Consultation with a psychologist if the problem is caused by stress.
7. Exercises for normal causes of jaw clicking.

If the jaw begins to click when opening not for the first time, you may also need to surgery.

Drug therapy

To get rid of chronic subluxation, the following groups of drugs are used.

Therapeutic gymnastics

To relieve tension from ligaments and muscles, as well as relax the joint, you can use a special therapeutic exercises:

1. Open your mouth slightly so that 2 fingers can fit between your teeth. Count to 10, then smoothly and slowly close your mouth.
2. Open your mouth again, move your jaw: first to the right, then to the left. Close your teeth.
3. Lightly press your fist onto your chin. Then push your lower jaw forward, resisting the pressure of your hand.
4. Move your lower jaw forward as far as you can. Count to 10 and return to the starting position.

Therapeutic gymnastics will help relieve tension from muscles and ligaments

Afterwards, all steps should be repeated 3-5 more times. This exercise should be repeated daily: this is a good method of treating and preventing subluxation.

To prevent your jaw from jamming, it is important to monitor your condition. When you open your mouth, there should be no discomfort and pain. If they exist, stop exercising and consult a doctor.

Surgical treatment

There are 5 types of operations performed for TMJ dysfunction:

1. Minimally invasive, washing away affected cells with liquid.
2. Arthroscopy, removing adhesions and scars in the joint.
3. An open operation that eliminates deformed areas.
4. Prosthetics that completely replace the head of the joint.
5. Retroauricular method, implanting screws into the joint structure.

Possible consequences

Constant clicking when opening your mouth can lead to serious consequences:

• to dislocation of the diseased joint;
• to ankylosis (fusion) of the joint;
• to destruction of the joint;
• to tear of the articular disc;
• deformation and destruction of the joint;
• to phlegmon of the temporal region;
• to post-traumatic arthrosis;
• to inflammation of the membranes of the brain;
• to sepsis.

Frequent clicking of the jaw can lead to joint dislocation

Some of these complications can result in disability or death. They can be avoided by promptly contacting a specialist if there are signs of the disease.

Clicking jaw - prevention

Subluxation of the temporomandibular joint can be avoided by following preventive measures and special recommendations.

1. Treat caries and inflammatory diseases airways in time so as not to provoke complications and dysfunction of the TMJ.
2. Contact trusted specialists: illiterate dentists and orthodontists can provoke subluxation by choosing the wrong dentures or fillings.
3. Monitor your emotional state: avoid stress; in difficult situations in life, consult a psychologist.
4. Practice singing, reciting or speaking only after special gymnastics for the lower jaw.
5. Correct malocclusion to avoid causing pain, clicking and discomfort in the jaw.
6. Don't forget: even if you haven't had a subluxation yet, you shouldn't open your mouth wide when yawning, coughing, laughing, while eating or talking.

Try not to open your mouth too wide when yawning.

Clicking when opening the mouth is a symptom indicating pathology of the jaw joints or problems associated with psychosomatics. If this condition is not treated in time, it can result in serious complications and consequences for your body.

Pain in the jaw when opening the mouth can be caused by both dental and many other diseases and malfunctions in the body. Depending on location discomfort and their character, the doctor will be able to accurately diagnose and prescribe adequate treatment. Therefore, if discomfort occurs, you need to go to an appointment with a therapist, who will analyze the situation and refer you to a suitable specialist.

If you want to know why your jaw hurts when you open your mouth, read on. Let's look at all the main reasons and ways to eliminate them.

The most popular reason. Pain may be associated with mechanical injury. The most common type of injury is a bruise. With it only people suffer soft fabrics, the bones remain intact.

On the face, in the place where the injury occurred, swelling and hematoma occur. Often, a bruise is characterized by severe pain, which interferes with chewing food and normal diction when speaking.

Usually the swelling and hematoma go away within a week, but if the bruise site continues to hurt, you need to take an x-ray to rule out the possibility of a bone fracture.

A fracture can result from a blow or bruise to the jaw. This is a serious injury accompanied by severe pain. Swelling appears at the site of the injury, and a bruise forms a little later. If there is a strong blow with a fracture of the lower jaw, then it is very painful for the person to open his mouth, he can neither open nor close it.

At a fracture upper jaw a hematoma may appear under the eye. If the damage is very severe, blood or yellowish fluid may come out of the ears.

Dmitry Sidorov

Orthopedic dentist

In these cases, an urgent x-ray and examination by a surgeon are necessary. Treatment can only be surgical; in serious cases, hospitalization of the patient is necessary.

Also to mechanical injuries refers to dislocation of the lower jaw. The risk of such injury is especially high in people with joint problems. The pain during a dislocation is always very strong, even unbearable; in some situations, loss of consciousness from painful shock is possible. In this case, the jaw is in an unnatural position, the patient cannot close his mouth and talk: it is either pushed forward or skewed to the side. To treat, the surgeon first adjusts the joint, and then the patient is given an x-ray to determine whether or not a bone fracture is present.

Dental pathologies

Pain in the jaw when chewing can be caused by a number of dental pathologies:

1. These can be severe carious problems that destroy teeth. In their place, cavities appear into which infection or food can enter, constantly irritating the exposed nerve endings.
2. Perhaps this is pulpitis, which also destroys tooth tissue and irritates nerve endings.
3. When inflammation of the periodontal tissues occurs.
4. Complications after pulpitis and caries - inflammation bone tissue, osteomyelitis.
5. Tooth injuries – dislocations, splits, fractures of the tooth neck.
6. Pain in oral cavity can occur with gingivitis - the gums become inflamed and swollen. Pain is caused by food that irritates the diseased mucous membrane.
7. After a tooth is removed, its socket may become inflamed. At the same time, it turns red, swells and causes discomfort when chewing food.

Caries Pulpitis Periodontitis Tooth luxation Gingivitis Inflammation of the tooth socket

When pain in the jaw joint is associated with dental problems, the most unpleasant sensations occur during sleep. Patients characterize them as pulsating, sharp, aching. They are also aggravated by eating too hot or cold food or drinks, by vigorous chewing, and by clenching the jaw.

Dmitry Sidorov

Orthopedic dentist

Many dental pathologies can lead to the formation of a purulent process. Most often it is provoked bacterial infections, much less often the cause is the development of viruses or fungi.

Due to penetration into a wound or through a hair follicle, the infection can develop into a boil. Over time, the inflammatory process moves to soft tissues located deeper, and a purulent focus forms there. This type of inflammation prevents the patient from opening the jaw when chewing and speaking.

Osteomyelitis – quite serious illness, which requires urgent treatment, because the inflammatory process affects not only soft tissues, but also bones; in severe cases, even bone marrow. The cause of this disease is an infection that can penetrate both from the external environment and from areas damaged by caries or. It is rare, but it happens that the infection is acquired through the bloodstream. Symptoms of osteomyelitis are pain, fever, enlarged lymph nodes, asymmetric swelling of the face, and headache may appear.

Cellulitis and abscess are characterized by the formation of pus, tissue swelling and severe pain. These diseases require immediate medical care. The difference is that with phlegmon the purulent process is open, and with an abscess it is closed. The patient high temperature, headache and jaw hurt. The swallowing process is difficult, and it is very difficult to open the jaw.

A complication of these ailments may be the spread of inflammation to new areas and tissue necrosis, which are a threat to the patient’s life.

Neurological pain

Unbearable pain in the jaw occurs with neurological pathologies of its lower part. Particularly strong discomfort occurs with trigeminal neuralgia. At the same time, the pain is sharp, intensifying at night, and, as a rule, its character is one-sided.

Severe pain when chewing and opening the mouth can be caused by problems with the superior laryngeal nerve; sometimes such pain radiates to the chest. Inflammation of the glossopharyngeal nerve is rare, but still occurs.

Dmitry Sidorov

Orthopedic dentist

For neurological pain, painkillers and drugs to relieve the inflammatory process are prescribed. In some particularly severe cases, surgical intervention is prescribed.

Neoplasms and vascular lesions

Adamantinoma

Jaw pain can be a symptom of cancer. In the early stages of the disease, symptoms are not pronounced. In this regard, patients mainly turn to doctors at later stages of the disease. If we talk about benign formations, then it can be osteoma, adamantinoma and osteoblastoclastoma. From malignant tumors You can distinguish sarcoma - a tumor that affects connective tissue, cancer develops in epithelial tissue and osteogenic sarcomas, affecting bones.

Malignant tumors in the upper jaw are not common; tumors in the lower jaw are more common. They grow quickly and metastasize to other organs.

If the facial artery becomes inflamed, burning pain occurs that spreads all the way to the chin or nose. It happens that the pain even radiates into the eye socket. Pathological processes in carotid artery often provoke migraines that affect half the face, teeth and radiate to the auricle.

Wisdom teeth

Often the jaw hurts while... The pain is aching and sharply intensifies when you open your mouth. In this case, all that remains is to wait for the process to complete and use household painkillers. If discomfort prevents you from sleeping at night and continues for several days, you need to go to the dentist. He will make a small incision in the gum to make it easier for the tooth to grow. As a rule, after such a procedure the patient immediately feels much better. If a wisdom tooth has grown into the gum, it is better to remove it.

Arthrosis is a disease of older people; pain with arthrosis increases with exercise, and becomes weaker at rest. These diseases can be identified by taking an x-ray. If treatment is started on time, then it is quite possible to avoid complications, immobilization of the jaw.

With pathology of the temporomandibular joint, pain is felt not only in the joint, but also in the cheek, temple, and can radiate to the forehead. When you chew, the pain intensifies, and a characteristic click is heard when you move your jaw. There are many reasons for this phenomenon – from the banal malocclusion to serious illness– osteoarthritis of the joint. In this regard, self-diagnosis and self-medication are strictly not recommended; consultation with a doctor is necessary.

Treatment methods

Treatment should be aimed at eliminating the cause that caused the pathology. Bruises are treated with compresses; in case of dislocations, a specialist has them realigned so that the bones can heal; if the fracture is immobilized, if the fracture is a fragment, then surgery is needed. Purulent inflammation They are treated with antibiotics, the abscesses are opened and after that antibiotics are also prescribed. Dental problems require treatment or tooth extraction.

There are a huge number of reasons why the jaw hurts when opening the mouth, and each of them has its own treatment tactics. Therefore, if pain occurs, you should definitely consult a doctor and treat the cause, not the effect. Many of the listed diseases require immediate medical attention; you should not numb your jaw with medications and delay a visit to the doctor, this can be fraught with health, and in some cases even life.

Helps us perform many vital movements, such as chewing food or talking.

To perform all these actions bottom part attached movably with the help of a joint entangled with tendons and muscles that help in movement. But even in this complex system, failures can occur and the jaw jams.

Why the mouth does not open - reasons

Usually a person in such cases cannot open his mouth or opens it a little.

The reason for this phenomenon can be various factors:

More often, the causes are mechanical in nature due to injury or excessive work of the jaw, for example, when opening a bottle with the teeth, yawning or increased speech load. But pathology can also be provoked, such as constant stress, emotional stress.

Women suffer from this problem more often, since their ligamentous apparatus is less developed. As a result, sometimes opening your mouth wide enough when yawning causes your jaw to jam.

In men, this happens more often due to various injuries and diseases: polyarthritis, rheumatism, gout. They lead to weakening of the ligamentous apparatus and to the fact that the joint sometimes seizes.

What to do - which doctor and when to contact if your jaw is jammed?

It is simple to determine dysfunction of the mandibular joint: it appears, which can spread to the teeth, temples and cheeks or the mouth does not open completely, sometimes you have to look for it correct position head, it hurts to close your teeth or you have to chew on one side. On early stages a characteristic click appears when the joint moves.

When all the symptoms are present, you need to go to a dental surgeon. If there is no such specialist, you can go to a simple dentist or surgeon. They will try to set the jaw back and find out the reasons for its pinching, but if they don’t succeed, they will send you to a specialist.

Complex treatment

Problems with the jaw joint require complex treatment aimed primarily at eliminating the cause. So, if the problem is caused by a disease of the ligaments or cartilage tissue, it is necessary to treat them; if the eating disorder has a psychological basis, it is worth visiting a psychologist and undergoing a rehabilitation course.

If the jaw hurts and does not open, you need to urgently go to the doctor, this will quickly and completely eliminate the closure. If treatment is delayed for several hours, changes in the structure of the joint become more complex and it becomes difficult to straighten the protruding jaw, sometimes even surgical intervention is required.

Treatment of pathology includes several points. First of all, gentle operation of the joint. You need to remove hard foods from your diet, try to talk less and not open your mouth too wide.

If necessary, the doctor prescribes medications:

• injections of glucocorticosteroids;
• anti-inflammatory drugs;
• antidepressants and sedatives;
• non-steroidal analgesics.

• electrophoresis;
• acupuncture;
• inductothermy;
• laser therapy;
• ultrasound therapy and others.

These techniques help improve blood circulation in the affected area and tissue nutrition. This contributes to their rapid recovery and elimination of violations.

When the jaw does not open or close well due to dental problems, treatment is prescribed by a dentist, for example, if the teeth do not close together, temporary wearing will help, etc.

In some cases it is necessary to resort to surgical intervention- this may be necessary if the jaw has “fallen off” (does not close) or has moved to the side and cannot be returned to the correct position in the usual way.

Self-editing of the mandibular joint, video:

The treatment process usually does not last long, but you will have to follow recommendations for maintaining a healthy joint for a long time. This again reduces the load on jaw joint, regular dental check-ups and monitoring for re-closure.

For weak displacements or movements with a click, the best way to eliminate the problem is gymnastics for the joint.

It's a little different when various types pathology. Before performing gymnastics, it is advisable to warm up the muscles and ligaments; to do this, apply a hot compress to the joint area.

When moving to the right

If the jaw is jammed on one side, use the following technique:

1. The position is taken: the jaw is at rest, the lips are open, the left elbow rests on the table and the left side of the chin is on the hand.
2. You need to press your chin down on your palm, and with it, in turn, up on your jaw, preventing it from moving to the side.
3. Stay in this position for 10 seconds, then relax for 30 seconds. Do 10 such repetitions.

When moving backwards

To eliminate this situation, you need to sit at the table, put your elbows on it, rest your lower jaw on your hands, and close your mouth. With effort, try to move the jaw forward until pain appears, without allowing it to deviate to the side. Open your mouth 10 times, first slowly and as far as possible, then quickly with a gradual increase in scope. Relax the joint.

When a joint clicks

If your jaw is clicking on one or both sides, the following exercises are recommended:

• move the lower jaw back and forth 10 times in each direction;
• relax your mouth, open your lips and move your jaw left and right 10 times;
• press your fingers on your chin and, using muscle efforts, try to lift your jaw up, do this for 30 seconds;
• place your fingers on both sides of the chin and try to push it forward with force, continue for about 30 seconds.

Jaw pain when opening the mouth is a common complaint among people of any age. It is in vain to think that unpleasant sensations will go away on their own. The disease that caused them will progress if left untreated. This will lead to others serious complications, pathology of the temporomandibular joint, and other health problems.

Structure and functions of the TMJ

The TMJ, or temporomandibular joint, is a paired organ in which movement occurs synchronously. This ensures chewing functions and correct articulation. The joint is complex and subject to constant loads. Its structure and proximity to the nasal sinuses, ear and dentofacial apparatus makes the organ vulnerable to infectious lesions.

The lateral pterygoid muscles additionally participate in the movements of the jaw joints, which pull the ligaments, providing motor activity. There are several functions of joints, each of which is unique. These are frontal movements when opening, closing the mouth, and articulation. There are also lateral and vertical movements when chewing food and sagittal movements for protruding the lower jaw.

Healthy temporomandibular joint has the following structure:

• ellipsoidal articular head of the lower jaw;
• the articular fossa, divided in half by the petrotympanic fissure;
• joint capsule - a durable shell of connective tissue (it protects the joint from bacteria);
• tubercle - a cylindrical protrusion in front of the glenoid fossa;
• a plate of cartilage tissue (disc) between articular surfaces, thanks to which the joint performs movement in different projections;
• ligaments that regulate movement: lateral, sphenomandibular, temporomandibular.

The structure of the human TMJ changes after tooth loss. The articular head gradually dissolves and reaches the state of a fossa. In addition, the posterior tubercle becomes flattened, which leads to limited mobility and impaired functioning.

Joint dysfunction occurs due to various situations that can disrupt the bite, lead to facial asymmetry, and jaw jamming.

The nature of pain and the mechanism of its occurrence

When it is painful to open your mouth wide, or it is completely jammed, this almost always indicates an inflammatory process, a violation of the anatomy and functions of tissues. The pain can spread to all areas of the face, shoot into the ear, cause migraines, and discomfort with visual strain. It can be different - long-term and short-term, aching and acute, which is taken into account when making a diagnosis.

Aching pain in the lower jaw accompanies the inflammatory process, and burning pain occurs with neuralgia. Cutting pain is usually diagnosed as a bone injury. People who find it painful to chew or open their jaws wide often blame pathology of the skeletal system as the cause. However, the disease can also affect surrounding tissues. If the patient ignores the pain, soon unpleasant symptoms They will also bother you when your jaw is closed.

Under the influence of certain diseases, the jaw may jam, pain on the left or right side. Pain on the left side may indicate poor circulation or problems with the blood vessels of the heart. Its right-sided nature is observed in neoplasms, inflammatory processes. If your jaw hurts everywhere and constantly, you can suspect an oncological factor.

It happens that the jaw cramps after sleep, and in the morning, at rest, cramps appear. You should not delay your visit to the doctor. Especially if the disease is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• spasms with fever;
• throbbing pain with spasms;
• severe pain radiates to any ear, eye (we recommend reading: what to do if toothache radiates to the ear?);
• swelling;
• mouth does not open;
• it hurts to chew for a long time;
• cramps in the lower part of the face.

When you open your mouth

Pain when opening the mouth is a consequence of a dislocation or fracture. If there has been no recent injury, these options are excluded. In this case, the cause of discomfort is osteomyelitis. Other pathologies that lead to sharp, aching or acute pain when working the jaws are dental diseases, among which caries ranks first. This also happens when dentures are installed incorrectly.

When chewing and closing teeth

If the jaw system aches, ache, bothers you when chewing or connecting teeth, you can suspect its dislocation or osteomyelitis. Other ailments that lead to discomfort when closing teeth include periodontitis, pulpitis, and complicated caries. When they exacerbate, the pain is pulsating in nature, radiates to the temple, and intensifies during moments of rest and night rest.

In the chronic form of pathologies, periodic It's a dull pain, which worsens with chewing load on the affected tooth or gum area. Certain foods and alcohol can also provoke unpleasant sensations when chewing. Leading to spasm of the esophagus, they also cause muscle spasm and jaw jamming.

Pressure

Pain in the cheek area when pressed has various causes. It can appear near the right or left side of the ears, or occur when palpating the upper or lower part. The cause of burning is often arteritis of the facial artery. With phlegmon, fistulas and abscess, the jaw will hurt even with a light touch at rest, and this symptom will be accompanied by others that cannot be ignored.

Pain when pressing on the teeth and gums indicates their pathology and dental problems. It often worries when there is abnormal eruption of a wisdom tooth, as well as accidental injury to the jaw.

Causes of pain in the jaw near the ear

Doctors often encounter patient complaints of pain in the jaw near the ear, pain in the ear when chewing. This symptom is not always associated with dental problems, and pain can be caused by the following reasons:

Pain in the jaw near the ear and temple is often observed due to carotidynia. This disease is similar to migraine, which is characterized by aching pain in the ear area, radiating to the lower jaw and eye socket. The pain is monotonous, but acute attacks occur that last from a couple of minutes to an hour. Carotidynia occurs when the temporal artery is dissected, a tumor in the area of ​​the carotid artery.

Associated symptoms

Any discomfort when the mouth does not open completely, or the jaw hurts on the right/left, cannot be ignored. Especially if it hurts a child. The accompanying symptoms will tell you that the pain is not random:

Diagnostic methods

If you complain of pain near the cheekbones when yawning, eating, or talking, a visual examination is performed. Afterwards, radiography, MRI, ultrasound, and ECG are prescribed (if heart failure is suspected). The disease is differentiated depending on the type of origin:

• dental problems;
• neurology;
• pathology of the cardiovascular system;
• ENT diseases;
• injuries;
• neoplasms.

Diagnosis of cardiovascular, bone and ENT pathologies is carried out on the basis of analyzes and examination data. X-rays and MRIs will help identify why the skin on the face or a tooth hurts, why the mouth cannot open, and identify tumors.

Oncology is much more difficult to diagnose. Tests for tumor markers, tomography and other help with this. modern methods. Based on the diagnostic results, a treatment tactic is selected, the duration of which depends on the degree of neglect of the disease.

Which doctor should I contact?

Which doctor will help if it hurts? lower jaw? If it hurts to chew and the problem is in your teeth and gums, you should make an appointment with a dentist. After an injury, if the jaw joints are jammed or the mouth is not fully opened, you should see a maxillofacial surgeon.

Often the patient does not find the cause, and the discomfort progresses: the ear on the right, cheekbones, and the area near the neck hurt. In this case, you should consult a therapist. After the examination, he will tell you which doctor to contact, give a referral to an orthopedist, rheumatologist, neurologist, gnathologist, cardiologist, ENT specialist, gastroenterologist and other specialized specialists.

How to treat the jaw joint?

Eliminate sharp pain Analgesics will help in the jaw joints. However, taking them will not solve the problem once and for all. It is necessary to identify and eliminate the cause of the pathology, which becomes:

Folk remedies

Folk remedies for combating painful sensations when opening the jaw and pathologies of its joints are used as an addition to the main treatment. They will not help if your jaw is jammed, but they will relieve pain symptoms. After consultation with your doctor, you can use the following recipes:

Additionally, according to the doctor's indications, you can do therapeutic exercises. The set of exercises is something like this (repeat 5 times every day):

• frown, then raise your eyebrows in surprise;
• squint your eyes;
• smile with closed lips, and then with an open mouth;
• stick out your lips with a straw;
• inflate and deflate cheeks;
• relax your face, stroke your temples and cheekbones.

Pain when opening the jaw has many causes, which are not easy to prevent. Experts recommend avoiding traumatic sports, monitoring your diet, and promptly treating gingivitis, caries and other dental pathologies. You should be wary of hypothermia, infectious diseases, stress, which adversely affects the state of the cardiovascular and nervous system.

Movements of the jaw left and right, up and down allow a person to chew food, talk, and reproduce certain sounds. Together with temporal bones The lower jaw forms the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) - it is disruptions in its functions that lead to the jaw becoming jammed. It happens that TMJ dysfunction causes the inability to open and close the mouth.

Why is there a problem?

The “culprit” for the jammed jaw is the TMJ. This formation, from an anatomical point of view, is problematic - with significant mobility, its individual elements (pits, processes, articular cavity) do not correspond to each other in size. It is this structure of the joint that ensures the ability to move the lower jaw to the right and left to carry out full chewing movements.

Important! According to medical statistics, at least 70% of the world's population experience malfunctions of the TMJ.

The reasons that the jaw does not open completely can be varied:

• malocclusion;
• dental treatment performed (for example, wisdom tooth removal);
• prosthetics;
• bruxism and the accompanying rapid wear of tooth enamel;
• the jaw also jams after injuries to the face, neck, or when eating hard, rough food;
• Often the problem becomes a consequence of an anomaly in the structure of the dentition.

Specific anatomy increases the risk of arthrosis and arthritis. dislocations, dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint

There is also a myogenic theory of TMJ dysfunction - its supporters explain the inability to open the mouth wide with spasms of the facial muscles. Thus, the causes of the anomaly are hypertonicity of the chewing and facial muscles, increased speech load (in people of public professions). Some doctors associate malfunctions in the TMJ with psychogenic factors - disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system. Emotional stress caused by frequent stress also affects the functions of this joint.

TMJ dysfunction also has a hereditary basis, if from birth the sizes of the heads and articular fossae do not match. It happens that the cause of a jammed jaw is a dislocation of the TMJ. You can get such an injury when chewing hard food or opening your mouth wide while yawning, or using a mouth opener in the dental office.

Dislocation of the TMJ can be caused by:

• injuries to the jaw and teeth;
• habit of opening bottles with teeth;
• shallow fossa, weak ligaments and other anatomical features of the joint.

Important! TMJ dislocations can be unilateral or bilateral.

In what cases is a doctor needed?

It is not difficult to “recognize” disturbances in the functioning of the temporomandibular joint. They “make themselves known” with pain in the jaw, head, ears, and neck. Discomfort may appear in the area of ​​so-called trigger points on the cheekbones, temples, and cheeks. Sometimes TMJ dysfunction is accompanied by toothache, feeling of squeezing in eyeballs. Difficulty opening the mouth is a classic manifestation of the problem. Sometimes the jaw jams completely; in order to move it, a person has to search for a long time for a suitable position of the head.

The inability to open your mouth wide, pain in the neck, temporal region, eyeballs, crunching in the joints when chewing or speaking are classic signs of TMJ dysfunction

An early “signal” of TMJ dysfunction is a characteristic clicking sound in the joint when opening the mouth. Additional signs:

• insomnia;
• increased irritability or apathy;
• weakness, malaise;
• xerotomia (dry mouth);
• noise, ringing in the ears;
• night snoring;
• characteristic muscle pain;
• decreased vision;
• twitching of the eye muscles.

Classic symptoms of TMJ dislocation are: difficulty speaking, chewing, dysphagia, excessive drooling, pain in the joint or joints. The lower jaw visually looks slanted, shifted to the side, and the face becomes asymmetrical. The habit of chewing hard objects or opening bottles with your teeth can sooner or later result in a dislocation of the temporomandibular joint.

First aid

The joint can jam spontaneously, for example, after a strong cry or prolonged chewing of solid food. It is important to know what you can do on your own to alleviate the condition before going to the doctor. So, a warm compress or a heating pad is applied to the sore joint, and then, on the contrary, ice or a cold towel. Such contrast procedures must be repeated once an hour.

To cope with pain syndrome, take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Analgin, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol). If indicated, local muscle relaxants are used (creams, ointments that relax muscles and relieve spasms).

Medical measures

Effective professional treatment for TMJ dysfunction requires eliminating the root cause of the problem. Thus, patients are advised to wear special orthopedic splints to normalize the functioning of the joint; drug therapy to relieve symptoms of inflammation, in severe cases - surgical intervention to regenerate individual areas of bone tissue. Physiotherapy is a mandatory component of the complex treatment of TMJ dysfunction.

With various disorders of the TMJ, the face becomes puffy, asymmetrical, the lower jaw can be pushed forward or to the side

First of all, it is gentle speech mode, refusal of solid foods that are difficult to chew, normalization of the daily routine. It is useful to do special gymnastics for the facial muscles, it is recommended to avoid stress, and promptly treat systemic and local dental diseases of an infectious-inflammatory nature. What to do if your jaw is jammed due to dislocation: consult a doctor (oral and maxillofacial surgeon, dentist). The specialist will straighten the joint without anesthesia in case of unilateral injury and under anesthesia in case of bilateral injury.

During medical procedures, the doctor returns the head of the joint to the fossa. So, jamming of the jaw can be associated with “local” injuries, increased load during chewing, diction and other factors causing TMJ dysfunction. If such a problem arises, you must immediately seek help from a doctor (orthopedic dentist, maxillofacial surgeon) for diagnosis and selection of a treatment strategy.