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Posted on 9/30/2019 by Jasmine Marshall |
 Did you ever wake up in the morning with a sore jaw? Now, we are not talking about a jaw that is sore because you had a fall or some other catastrophe befell you. We are talking about a jaw that is sore for no apparent reason. You go to sleep and you are fine. You wake up and your jaw is sore. It is possible that you simply dismiss it as sleeping funny or needing a new pillow because you can find no other logical explanation. But, when you get the new pillow, it still happens. The other odd thing is that it does not happen every day. If it did, you would probably worry a little more about it and possibly mention it to your doctor or when you next visit our office, but since it is a transient pain, you presume it is nothing serious. So, you let it slide. What Could the Pain Be From?If you wake up with a pain in your jaw, one of the most common causes is bruxism. Bruxism is a fancy way of saying that you grind or clench your teeth. People usually do this as a result of stress. The problem is that if they only do it only at night, they may not realize they do it. Their only clue may be pain in the jaw when they awaken in the morning. If you think you may suffer from bruxism, let us know. Bruxism is not hard for us to detect because of the type of wear it puts on your teeth. A custom mouthguard to wear at night may be just what you need to stop your pain. Temporo-mandibular joint syndrome, or TMJ, is yet another condition that can cause you to have jaw pain in the morning. TMJ is a condition that is caused by a problem with the hinge of your jaw joint. Fortunately, TMJ can also be treated fairly easily, starting with stretching exercises. Though there are other reasons you can have jaw pain in the morning, these are the most common. Be sure to make an appointment with us if you experience jaw pain so we can get started with a regimen to fix it. |
