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Don’t let Christmas grind you (and your teeth) down…

With a few short weeks until Christmas the build-up, and all that it entails, is fully underway. The festive season offers a wonderful opportunity to connect with family and friends, and we all love it – really! The flip side is that it can all be pretty stressful. The prospect of sitting down with a dozen or so relatives, aged from 9 months to 90, for a slap-up Christmas dinner (that you’ve spent hours cooking) can get the most laid-back among us clenching their jaw and grinding their teeth. If this sounds like you, then read on.

Do you ever experience, headaches, facial pain, earache, popping, grating or clicking noises when opening your mouth or chewing, coupled with jaw, neck or shoulder pain? Do you struggle to open your mouth wide or does your jaw lock? If so, you could be suffering from pain in your TMJ or temporomandibular joint.

 

TMJ and TMD explained

In case you’re wondering (and most people haven’t a clue), the TMJ connects the lower jaw (mandible) to the skull (temporal bone) in front of the ear. Disorder of the TMJ (aka TMD) affects that joint and the muscles involved in chewing, manifesting itself in the symptoms listed above. There’s no definitive cause but TMD can be brought on by injury, over-clenching the jaw and teeth or unknowingly grinding your teeth (bruxism) causing wear and tear in the inside jaw. Stress and unexpressed anger are often behind such behaviours.

Untreated TMD can significantly affect a sufferer’s quality of life, and not in a good way. There are a few things you can do at home to alleviate the discomfort, such as:

  • Eating soft foods
  • Avoiding excessive jaw action (ie chewing gum, biting nails and clenching)
  • Applying a warm or cold flannel to the affected area several times a day for 10-20 minutes
  • Massaging the painful muscles
  • Not resting your chin on your hand

 

The power of osteopathy

If symptoms continue, do seek medical advice. Your dentist can advise if an uneven bite is the cause. Osteopathy can also be effective in addressing the local TMJ pain using osteopathic techniques combined with Low Level Laser Therapy but, importantly, looking at the bigger musculoskeletal picture, which involves the relationship between the jaw, neck and upper back. I receive referrals from dentists whose patients suffer with TMD and one patient who came to see me with extreme tiredness and TMJ pain said:

‘I was first treated by Robin Kiashek two years ago for headaches and tiredness. Robin used Cranial Osteopathy to successfully alleviate these symptoms. I have been seeing Robin periodically since that time and have found his holistic, sympathetic approach to treatment to be highly beneficial. He diagnosed TMJ (temporomandibular joint – a joint hinging the upper and lower jaw bones) dysfunction as a principal cause of my symptoms. This was confirmed by a dentist and further by a consultant neurologist. Robin has been able to mitigate the pain, relieve the symptoms and hasten the recovery. I would highly recommend Robin based on my experience to anyone needing osteopathic treatment.’ (JS, a patient).

If you’re a TMD sufferer who wants to alleviate painful symptoms, then why not request an appointment?

 

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Don’t let anger derail your life

We all get angry from time to time. After all, anger is just another human emotion that can arise as a result of work, family or money problems coupled with overwhelming demands on our time or emotions.  Into this potentially explosive mix, you can add in a handful of genetic and family upbringing factors that make it difficult for people to manage their emotions properly.  

Of course, anger can be extremely helpful, enabling us to defend ourselves in dangerous situations as part of our fight or flight system. But on a day-to-day level, that’s not always appropriate. What we do with our anger can have a huge impact – often negative – on our health, wellbeing, relationships and careers.  

According to research by University College London, a brief outburst of temper can cause surges in blood pressure and heart rate, increasing the risk of a heart attack by 19 per cent. And beware arguing with your partner! Scientists at Ohio State University found that a 30-minute argument can slow down healing rates, raising the level of cytokines (immune molecules that trigger inflammation), and thereby the probability of developing arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. 

Long-lasting and simmering anger, including subtler forms such as sarcasm and impatience, is no better. A study in Michigan, USA, found that women who suppressed anger while arguing with their partners had twice the risk of dying from conditions such as heart attack, stroke or cancer. Even recalling such stressful incidents several days later can cause blood pressure to rise, says the International Journal Of Psychophysiology.

 

The mind-body link

The inescapable fact is that our emotional and physical health are inextricably linked, with strong emotions such as anger often bringing about physical changes to the body, including: 

  • Muscle tension 
  • Heart palpitations or tightening of the chest 
  • Increased blood pressure 
  • Risk of stroke/heart attack 
  • Headaches/migraines 
  • Fatigue 
  • Sweating 
  • Jaw clenching
  • Changes in appetite 
  • Poor concentration 
  • Abdominal discomfort  
  • Depression 
  • Digestive and bowel problems 
  • Skin problems 
  • Auto-immune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis  

Most people will experience episodes of anger which can be managed without a damaging impact on their lives. Learning healthy ways to recognise, express and deal with anger is vital for maintaining optimum mental and physical health.

 

Top tips for managing anger effectively: 

Remember, you can’t always control situations that make you angry, but you can choose how to respond:  

  • Take time out – In situations where an angry response is a tempting, count to 10, breathe deeply and walk away. Give yourself time to calm down and, if necessary, express the anger in a way that doesn’t hurt yourself or others by, for example, punching a pillow or writing an angry letter (that you don’t send). Mindfulness techniques can also be useful. 
  • Look after yourself – Sleeping and eating well will help you handle situations in a calmer and more measured way while regular exercise can let out angry feelings and improve your mood.  
  • Talk – confide in someone who is not involved, such as a friend, family member, counsellor, your GP or the Samaritans.  

 People often come to me complaining of muscle tension, headaches or backache. When I ask them more about their lifestyle, it can become clear that their ache or pain is a physical manifestation of anger, and that dealing with the root cause will help them to feel better. If this sounds familiar then please contact me and we can have a further discussion at a consultation. 

 

 

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Why is cracking one’s knuckles so addictive?

In this world there seem to be two types of people – the knuckle (and other joint) crackers who indulge their habit on a regular, if not daily basis, and those who have to put up with it.

Joint crackers defend themselves by saying that they find great satisfaction or even release in pushing, pulling or bending fingers, knuckles or other joints until they pop. Onlookers tend to find it a) revolting b) unnerving c) plain annoying but nothing they say seems to make a difference. Neither do dire warnings from friends and family that a lifetime of cracking could damage the joint. Those poppers just keep on popping.

That popping noise explained

After nearly 100 years of mystery and various theories, we seem to be getting closer to a definitive explanation for the distinctive noise produced by the cracking process. That’s thanks to curious École Polytechnique graduate student Vineeth Chandran Suja (a veteran knuckle cracker) and Dr Abdul Barakat, who together developed mathematical equations to describe the sound of knuckles cracking.

Each joint is lubricated by synovial fluid – its presence helps to facilitate optimal joint/bone movement and comfort. Suja and Barakat compared a recording of popping sounds from the model joint that had a bubble in its surrounding fluid with the noise from their own knuckles and found that the two were very similar. They concluded that the knuckle cracking sound comes from a partial collapse of bubbles in the synovial fluid. Their findings were published in March 2018 in the journal Scientific Reports.

Why do people crack, and can it cause problems?

That’s the big question. A combination of nervous habit and stress relief could be part of the picture. But joint manipulation also stimulates nerve endings1 and this action relaxes the muscles surrounding the joint, so crackers may feel momentarily more mobile in that joint. Overly forceful cracking can injure the joint but several studies have failed to demonstrate a solid link between habitual knuckle-cracking and the onset of arthritis.

Caring for your joints

Joints are essential to maintaining full mobility, enabling you to work, rest and play. Check out our tips for taking care of them:

  • Try not to crack your knuckles and other joints. If you must, be gentle!
  • Maintain an appropriate body weight to help reduce pressure on the joints.
  • Take regular, low-impact exercise such as walking, cycling and swimming to help keep joints healthy, reduce stiffness and minimize the risk of injury. Try to build up the muscles surrounding the joints so they can better support the joints and act as a shock absorber. A gym instructor or personal fitness trainer can help you with this.
  • Stretch every day, to facilitate flexibility and free movement of your joints.

If you are experiencing pains in any of your joints, give The Robin Kiashek Clinics a call on 020 8815 0979 or request an appointment? We will assess you thoroughly and provide a personalised treatment plan, including exercises and guidance on preventing injury and making the most of your body. It may or may not include ‘cracking’ depending on patient preference and requirements!

 

1 Medical News Today 21 June 2017 (reviewed by William Harrison MD)

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