Bad Habits That Can Worsen TMD Symptoms
Do you think that you have bad habits that are affecting your TMD treatment? Everyone has good and bad habits. Good habits are beneficial and enhance your life, like making your bed daily, never having dirty dishes in the sink, or exercising every day. Bad habits are not beneficial to your life and have the potential to cause you harm. There are a number of bad habits that can affect your TMD. It can be hard to break bad habits, especially if they are things that you have been doing for many years, but to help your overall health it is in your best interest to make some changes, even though it may be difficult.
Bad Habits That Can Affect TMD
Eating Large Bites of Food
When food is cut too large, the mouth needs to open wide too frequently. It can aggravate and irritate your jaw muscles and can leave you with discomfort after your meal. We recommend cutting food into smaller bites to save some work for your jaw.
Chewing on Things That Are Not Food
Many patients have a tendency to mindlessly put things in their mouth when feeling nervous or tense. Some patients chew on fingernails or pens. If you look at the pens in your purse, office, or home and the caps are chewed, you can conclude that you have this bad habit.
Using Teeth as Tools
Scissors were created for a reason, and they are the perfect tool—not your mouth—to help you open packages and cut tags. We also don’t suggest that you use your teeth to open bottles. This puts unnecessary pressure on your teeth and can affect the jaw muscles.
Smoking
This habit negatively affects not only your TMD symptoms, but is detrimental to your overall health. The sucking motion of smoking can harm your oral health and also affects the jaw muscles if you are prone to discomfort.
If you are experiencing issues with your TMD, we would love to help you. At Center for TMJ & Sleep Solutions NW of Auburn & Silverdale, WA, we help treat patients with TMD and sleep disorders so they can get back to enjoying their lives without pain. Please call our office for more information.
