TMJ / TMD
Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

TMD is a condition that has been on the rise for the last few decades. It has no clearly diagnosed universal cause and is often another manifestation of psychosomatic pain stemming from internalized tension.

What is the Temporomandibular Joint?

It is a multidirectional joint allowing front to back, side to side and up and down motion simultaneously. This is a strong joint and is vital in facilitating the abilities of eating and speaking.

Causes of TMD

While this is correct, it is only an incomplete picture of the problem. Of course, the person is grinding. This is a well known indicator of emotional stress and is not a physical problem unto itself. Another horrific example of treating the symptoms of a larger concern rather than dealing with the underlying source itself.

In some patients, the arthritic processes are implicated in causing degeneration of the joint. This type of structural change is rarely problematic, as arthritis is universal in adults and is unlikely to produce symptoms unless it is truly extreme. Remember, this is a very strong and well designed joint.

TMD Symptoms

Patients typically have these expressions after sleeping, since many grind their teeth while at rest. Others grind when they are stressed and do not even realize it. A great number of patients also have severe headache expressions, which may or may not be related to the TMJ concern itself, but is almost surely another recurrent stress-induced symptom.

TMJ Disorder Facts

One of the more common causes of this syndrome is some psychosomatic condition relating to unresolved emotional issues. This type of TMJ problem is a result of oxygen deprivation to the affected joint, causing actual physical dysfunction.

Another type of psychosomatic pain often confused with traditional TMD is myofascial pain dysfunction or MPD. This type of facial pain is also caused by stress and is usually the product of a clenched jaw or grinding of the teeth while sleeping. Some patients have such severe conditions of MPD that they actually clench or grind all day without even realizing their actions.

Recommendation on TMJ

These patients are familiar to me since they also experience severe back pain. I know from my own experience that temporomandibular joint dysfunction is a common substitute symptom for psychological back pain.

The patients who have experienced both back ache and TMD have often beaten both using knowledge therapy. If the TMD was actually caused by some physical defect, the back pain would be gone, but the TMD still there. The fact that both disappeared proves the link between both conditions and some maladapted psychological process.

If you are suffering from TMJ disorder, you might want to check out knowledge therapy before consenting to some surgical or pharmaceutical treatment. If it does not work for you, there are still the medical methods available, with no harm done. However, statistics show that most TMJ pain is related to a mindbody cause. No sense fighting a psychological battle using a physical treatment. You have to identify the correct cause in order to expect relief.

It really comes down to this… Sure, you grind and that causes pain. BUT… Why do you grind? That is entering the realm of the psychological and leaving the realm of the medical or dental far behind.