Health Tips for Women with TMJ

    HOUSTON, TX, June 27, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Women are more affected by stress, anxiety, and fatigue than men. Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) can cause many symptoms that lead to pain and make everyday tasks more difficult. TMJ can increase or cause stress, anxiety, and fatigue. Women can help reduce the level of pain they experience from TMJ with a few health tips.

Some tips to help women with their TMJ symptoms include:

- Relaxing
- Exercising every day
- Increasing their calcium intake
- Getting plenty of sleep
- Adjusting the position of their keyboard
- Taking yoga classes

Most women find it difficult to relax before they go to bed. It is not easy finding even a few moments to relax with a cup of tea or a book or take nice hot bath even after putting the children to bed. Women, like men, have demanding jobs and obligations at home that lead to high levels of stress. Women find it more challenging to channel the stress and let go of it. Women tend to hold on to stress much longer than men. This is why finding time to relax and unwind is important for all women, but especially for women who suffer from TMJ.

Exercising is essential for overall health. Exercising also reduces stress. With our busy schedules, it is increasingly difficult to find time to exercise. Even ten or twenty minutes of exercise a day will greatly reduce your stress levels and help your TMJ. You can walk after dinner, go running, or spend time gardening. Find an activity that you enjoy and that offers some form of exercise and do it every day or as often as you can. The enjoyment of what you are doing and the act of doing it will help you feel better and help you relax.

Calcium is important for bone strength and growth. Women's bones start to thin around menopause and having a build up of calcium helps prevent osteoporosis and helps keep the bones strong. Increasing the intake of calcium will strengthen the jaws and the temporomandibular joint that attaches the lower jaw to the skull. Calcium will reduce any weakness in the jaws keeping the jaws strong to reduce pain. To increase your intake of calcium, you can drink three glasses of milk a day or eat leafy green vegetables and fish.

Most women do not get enough sleep. With a busy schedule, women tend to get six hours of sleep or less and often go to bed highly stressed. Try to relax for a bit before going to bed and please give yourself eight hours to sleep. Your body heals itself and rejuvenates during sleep. Sleep is another essential part of a healthy body.

All the muscles in the body are connected. This is why TMJ can cause pain in your face, neck, shoulders, and back. You may be able to reduce the amount of pain you experience from TMJ by adjusting the placement of objects in your home or at work. The position of your computer keyboard may be causing the muscles in your arms and wrists to tense up. By lowering or raising your computer keyboard, you can eliminate the stress on your muscles and help your TMJ.

Yoga is a great form of exercise that helps people relax, stretch their muscles, and strengthen their muscles. Yoga teaches people how to breathe deeply helping oxygen reach all the muscles. Many patients who suffer from TMJ find relief and stress release with yoga.

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