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Have Lock Jaw Problem. What Is Causing This?
Question: my sister 's jaw locked up on her about 4 times in 2yrs doctors use pills which make her feel sick and only the doctor who used his hand to put it in place mananged to fix it however it happened again can u tell me if natural foods can fix it a certain diet etc and what is causing the jaw to lock .thank you
Hi,
Thanks for the query.
Lock jaw is the disorder that prevents the mouth from opening fully or otherwise function properly.
There are many causes of lock jaw. Few are:
1. Bruxism - here the patients repeatedly have the habit of grinding teeth. This leads to muscle spasm and inflammation of temporomandibular joint.
2, Disorders of mouth such as temporomandibular joint disorders.
3. Diseases like tetanus causing inflammation of soft tissue in the mouth.
4. Other factors are ageing, yawning or wide opening of mouth, oral diseases, fever illnesses.
It is very important to determine the cause of the disease before starting the treatment; so its better to consult to an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and get the clinical evaluation done. X-ray of the joint may be needed.
During the acute attacks
- Remove any anxiety or stress of the patient, tell her to relax.
- Avoid eating of hard food take a soft diet.
- Apply moist heat packs externally over the affected area 2-3 times a day which
results in relaxation of the area and prevent further attacks.
- Simple exercises at home can relieve the condition in mild cases like slow movement of the jaw from one side then to the other till you hear a popping sound can relieve lock jaw.
- Some herbs like valerian, passion flower,chamomile can help in reducing stress in case of lock jaw.
Patients suffering from repeated attacks may require corrective surgeries, if there is deformity in the joint.
Apart from these, there are no special dietary products or diet restriction that prevents / treat lock jaw.
Hope this helps out. Let me know if you need clarifications
Regards
Dr Qazi Ammara
Thanks for the query.
Lock jaw is the disorder that prevents the mouth from opening fully or otherwise function properly.
There are many causes of lock jaw. Few are:
1. Bruxism - here the patients repeatedly have the habit of grinding teeth. This leads to muscle spasm and inflammation of temporomandibular joint.
2, Disorders of mouth such as temporomandibular joint disorders.
3. Diseases like tetanus causing inflammation of soft tissue in the mouth.
4. Other factors are ageing, yawning or wide opening of mouth, oral diseases, fever illnesses.
It is very important to determine the cause of the disease before starting the treatment; so its better to consult to an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and get the clinical evaluation done. X-ray of the joint may be needed.
During the acute attacks
- Remove any anxiety or stress of the patient, tell her to relax.
- Avoid eating of hard food take a soft diet.
- Apply moist heat packs externally over the affected area 2-3 times a day which
results in relaxation of the area and prevent further attacks.
- Simple exercises at home can relieve the condition in mild cases like slow movement of the jaw from one side then to the other till you hear a popping sound can relieve lock jaw.
- Some herbs like valerian, passion flower,chamomile can help in reducing stress in case of lock jaw.
Patients suffering from repeated attacks may require corrective surgeries, if there is deformity in the joint.
Apart from these, there are no special dietary products or diet restriction that prevents / treat lock jaw.
Hope this helps out. Let me know if you need clarifications
Regards
Dr Qazi Ammara
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
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