#4 Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ/TMD)

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ 

Assalamualaikum and hello everyone, how u' doin? I hope you are all in the best of health =D =D So as you can see I haven't wrote for months now, sorry for that (plus I don't really know people actually read my blog but well I'm just gonna write anyway) hehe. 

So, as you know or as you might not know, I have been suffering from Temporomandibular Joint Disorder also known as TMJ or TMD. (cehh ayat macam teruk sangat huehue). If you don’t know what that is, well I just found out as well when I first found the dentist, it is a problem occurs with the jaw and face muscles. Here are some of the symptoms;

·        - Pain or tenderness of your jaw.

·        - Locking of the joint, making it difficult to open or close your mouth.

·        - Aching pain in and around your ear.

·        - Difficulty chewing or discomfort while chewing.

·        - An uncomfortable bite.

·        - Clicking, popping or grating sounds in the jaw when you open or close your mouth/                chew.

·        - May also have headaches, neck aches, dizziness, upper shoulder pain and earaches. 

       So, if you have been experiencing those kind of pains ^^ I say go see a dentist or better yet, go see and make an appointment with an orthodontist. An orthodontist is a branch or dentistry that specializes in treating patients with improper positioning of teeth when the mouth is closed (malocclusion), which results in an improper bite. I went and make an appointment with a dentist last year, and the dentist asked me about my pain and I could tell that he could barely believe what I told him, as if it was some kind of a joke or whatever.

They did an X-Ray and they said it was a ‘NORMAL’ case; 

this is it jeng jeng jeng

Not to be rude, but if it’s normal, why am I still feeling the pain and why does I’m the only one among my friends who experience this kind of pain? But hey, things help right? Sort of. After that, we took a break and I didn’t manage the pain so by April, my mom decided to take me to an orthodontist in Shah Alam. It did help, Alhamdulillah and now I've been referred to a specialist at University Malaya. 

I've only been there twice, my first appointment was on May and they did an X-Ray of both my jaw, they said I am still growing up so there's not gonna be any surgeries or any major medical medication. Second time there last Wednesday, they made a night guard for me which is a plastic mouthpiece fit over my upper teeth so they don't touch and lessen the effects of clenching or grinding while I sleep. My next appointment is next Wednesday, which means I'm skipping my Biology class, again T_T 

Plus, I'm going to some physiotherapy sessions at Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya once a week and that means I'm going to skip classes again huhu but I really hope this will make things better, in shaa Allah. 

However, there are things you can do on your own to help relieve the TMJ symptoms;

- Use moist heat or cold packs, apply to the side of your face and temple are about 10-15      minutes.

- Eat soft foods, cut foods into small pieces so you chew less and skip hard and crunchy  foods.

- Avoid extreme jaw movements, keep yawning and chewing to a minimum and don't yell,  sing or do anything that forces you to open wide.

- Don't rest your chin on your hand.

- Keep your teeth slightly apart, put your tongue between your teeth to control clenching or    grinding during the day.

So, i think that's it for now, do pray for me, okay? To those who are reading this, ,may Allah bless you and your loved ones :) Assalamualaikum and byebye! =D