Hi all of my wonderful TMJoiners!
I’m Priya Mistry the TMJ doc. Today’s video is about the best sleeping position
if you suffer from TMJ Disorder.
Many of you have been asking me about this, so I thought I should make this video for
YOU, my dear friends, so you have some more information.
Be sure to watch until the end because I will also be talking about the best pillow for
you if you have TMJD!
Before getting into it, make sure to check out my other social media accounts. I poste a lot of
useful information - tips, tidbits, trivia - and pain relief techniques on those avenues as well.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a general dentist with a practice in Vancouver,
Washington where we are dedicated to taking care of patients with TMJ disorders.
So now let’s get right into it.
Which sleeping position is the best sleeping position?
Right off the bat, I always discourage people from sleeping on their backs.
The reason that sleeping on your back can be sort of detrimental if you have TMJD,
is because oftentimes, one of the causative factors - what
leads to TMJ problems - is Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea, you ask?
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is also called OSA and to quote directly from the
Mayo Clinic about what it is: “Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the
back of your throat relax too much to allow normal breathing.
These muscles support structures including the back of the roof of your mouth (soft palate),
the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils and the
tongue.” End quote.
What happens is that when we sleep on our backs, gravity pulls
the weight of our jaw and therefore our tongue - which is attached to the jaw - further back
into our airway - thereby making Obstructive Sleep Apnea worse.
Basically, sleeping on our backs makes the airway smaller and makes OSA worse!
When OSA is an issue, our bodies will go
into fight or
flight mode. So when we are struggling for oxygen at night, our bodies go into that fight or flight
mode, which is a very stressful mode for our bodies to be in!
That will then sort of encourage us to clench and grind. When we're stressed, many of us clench our
teeth. We're just sort of designed to sink our teeth into whatever's bothering us and grinding
the jaw forward actually opens the airway! Just like the CPR chin tilt technique to open the
airway, grinding the jaw forward accomplishes the same thing. So it's our brains way of
knowing - "Hey, If I grind the jaw forward, I can get more oxygen into the system essentially".
All that increased clenching and grinding activity will then negatively
impact the muscles of the head, neck, and jaw as well as the jaw joints
leading to TMJ issues including but not limited to: headaches, jaw pain, neck pain, ear pain,
clicking or popping noises in the jaw joints, and even jaw locking.
SO, suffice it to say, I don't recommend sleeping on your back if you can avoid it.
Another position I don’t encourage when we're sleeping is sleeping
on our stomachs!
When we sleep on our stomachs, we have to twist our necks
right or left on our pillows just so that we can breathe so our nose
and our mouth are exposed to the air if you will.
If you’ve seen my video called “Neck Pain and TMJD” which I’ve linked above and below,
then you know that I talk a lot about how the neck
and the jaw are INTIMATELY related.
And along with OSA - Obstructive Sleep Apnea - another factor that can often cause TMJ
issues is actually the NECK.
Whiplash injuries, other types of injuries to the neck, neck injuries, misalignment
of C1 - this first cervical vertebra - all
of that can feed up and affect the jaw.
I can’t tell you how many patients I’ve seen who have suffered from whiplash
and then suddenly their jaw joints start clicking or popping
or even worse - sometimes the jaw will actually lock closed after a whiplash injury.
So I encourage anything that will decrease the stress on your neck - this includes NOT
sleeping on your stomach.
As kind of a quick sidenote to that, I have a lovely patient who comes to see me. Her jaw
was locked closed when she first came to see me. She could barely open 1 or 2 finger widths
and she was in a lot of pain. She responded to treatment really quickly at the beginning. She
unlocked quickly, we were able to really gain a lot of traction and get moving on treatment
and then all of a sudden she came back to me and she was locked again.
And I said, "what happened?". And she said, "Well, I was actually putting pillowcases on our pillows
at home after washing the sheets and I held the pillow like this between my chin and my
throat" - all of us have done this right? - "..and then I put the pillowcase on" - and after that,
her jaw locked up again. So it was as simple as like an everyday task that we've all done but
it was just too much for her neck and that fed up and really affected her jaw. So part of her
treatment became daily neck stretches which have actually sort of helped her unlock again
and we're on the right track again. But I just found it so fascinating that a simple,
quick task like that can just throw everything out of wack all over again. So back to sleeping!
So really that leaves us with sleeping on your side
- either side - as the best sleeping position if you have TMJD!
The only thing I discourage when you're sleeping on your side
is please do NOT rest your hand against your
jaw. So if you saw my thumbnail for this video that's exactly what I'm doing, but I didn't
really know how to look like I was sleeping in the thumbnail besides that - but I really discourage
that. I really discourage placing your hands against your jaw when you're sleeping on your
side. And the reason for that is that it puts too much lateral pressure on the whole jaw.
Our jaw joints are not built for a lot of side to side movement.
They're not built for that lateral movement. They're built for up and down and forward and
backward. And that laterally movement can actually make some muscles and the joints
themselves pretty mad. So we want to avoid having our hands on our face. Many people have told me
that sleeping on their side makes them feel as thought their hips are sort of imbalanced.
And I totally get it - that's how I felt during both of my pregnancies. So sleeping
with a good pillow between your knees or your legs is a good way to sort of counteract that.
I’ve linked the pillow I used during both of my pregnancies in the description box bellow.
So that leads us right into pillows - which pillow is the best pillow?
Well, my friends, I wish I had a good answer for you! Buy my answer is this:
The pillow that gives your neck the most support
without causing neck pain or neck strain - that is the best pillow for you!
That pillow is different for me than it is for you than it is for the next person and that's
the tricky part. All of us need different levels of support for our necks depending on
what our necks have been through. Some of us have suffered many whiplashes; others of us have not.
Some of us have hypermobility; others of us do not. So that's why I can't give you a really
straight answer - like "go buy this pillow - this is the pillow for you if you have TMJ issues".
I would recommend sort of experimenting with a few different pillows. So I'm not saying break the
bank, but maybe get one that's a softer pillow, a medium firm pillow, and then a firm pillow
and try them out. And many stores will let you return pillows as well so you can
kind of try it out and return it if it doesn't work for you.
I’m currently investigating and trying out new pillows just to kind of provide some options
for some of you out there. So if I find something I really think will be helpful,
I'll be sure to make a video on it. So kind of stay tuned for that,
keep an eye on my channel. The best way to do that is SUBSCRIBE - hit that Subscribe button
and you'll get a notification for my new videos that come out in the future.
In the meantime, I wish you good luck for finding the perfect pillow for YOU, my friends.
I know that I myself sort of went on quite a search before I found the one
that suited me best. And I am very happy with it - it was well worth the wait.
So that’s really it my friends!
Again, I’m Dr. Mistry and I hope you found this video helpful.
If so, please feel free to like, Subscribe, and share with your family and friends!
For TMJD relief from the comfort of your own home, please download my free PDF Guide called
“3 Steps to TMJD Pain Relief”.
You can find this on my website which is linked below. If you go to the homepage,
just scroll to the bottom and it's right there.
Keep in mind that Questions and comments are always
welcome. I'd love to hear from you. If you have a pillow you feel strongly about,
feel free to share that below. If you try out sleeping on your side, let me know how it goes!
And remember, my friends, you can never have TMI about TMJ!
Thank you!