Quick Tips for Sleep Apnea & TMJ Treatment

Living with sleep apnea or TMJ disorders can prove quite challenging. However, there are certain things that you can do to feel some, if not total, relief. Here are some essential home tips for tackling sleep apnea and TMD recommended by our TMJ treatment center in Childersburg.

Sleep Apnea Relief Tips

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a severe problem that demands professional treatment. We’ve seen patients suffering from sleep apnea in Childersburg experiencing trouble getting ample oxygen while asleep. Since it can lead to fatal incidents, OSA treatment is not an at-home DIY project. However, you can try these simple tips to manage sleep apnea at home if your condition isn’t severe.

1. Head Posture: While sleeping, your head should ideally be almost six inches off the bed. We recommend sleeping with support pillows to keep your head elevated.
2. Sleeping Position: Your tongue and throat muscles can relax to cause airway obstruction if you sleep on your back. We suggest sleeping on your sides or stomach.
3. Sleep Appliances: Various oral or nasal appliances like nasal dilators, breathing strips, mouth guards, or nasal irrigators can help keep your airway clear of obstruction.

Our tried and tested TMJ and sleep solutions of Alabama may not help you get rid of sleep apnea entirely in a heartbeat, but they will decrease its negative health impacts.

TMJ Pain Relief Tips

We make thousands of facial expressions every day without even trying. However, even these basic movements can cause excruciating pain for people with temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD). Luckily, our TMJ treatment center in Childersburg advises these quick home remedies to relieve TMJ pain at home.

1. Rest Your Jaw: Minimizing frequent jaw movements and keeping your temporomandibular muscles relaxed for long periods can alleviate TMJ pain to some extent.
2. Improve Posture: You should maintain an upright posture with back support while sitting, working, driving, or physically exerting yourself in any way to avoid pain.
3. Sleep Well: Try sleeping on your back, using pillows for neck support, avoiding sleeping on your stomach or sides, and not pressing your jaw with your hands for better sleep.
4. Compression: Cold compression with ice can reduce inflammation and pain, while hot compression increases blood flow and has a relaxing effect on your jaw.
5. Stress Removal: Practicing relaxation techniques like mediation, yoga, gardening, etc., can help relieve TMJ pain by calming your mind down and relaxing your face muscles.
6. Jaw Workout: Stretching, strength-building, and muscle relaxation workouts can help improve your jaw joint mobility and relieve TMJ pain in the long run.
7. Behavioral Changes: Nails, cheek or lip biting, chin on hand resting, jaw clenching, teeth grinding, and pushing your tongue against your teeth should be avoided.
8. Diet Modifications: Quitting diet elements that demand the forceful opening of your mouth or extreme jaw movements like crunchy, chewy, or hard food can reduce TMJ pain.

Get in touch with our sleep apnea & TMJ treatment center in Childersburg to learn more.