A Reminder that Not All TMJD Sufferers Recover

I received an email today that, once again, brought me back to planet Earth. I do not mean to sound insensitive or perhaps smug in my attitude about TMJ Disorder. It's unacceptable that from time to time I seem to need reminders that just because I recovered, doesn't mean that everyone can recover...or recover very easily... or recover without undergoing irreversible procedures.

Indeed, how can the medical profession possibly profess that this condition can be cured, when no one is exactly sure why the condition arises? Even in my own situation, I may be painfree, but I am cautious about what I eat! That's not really being cured.

As I was reminded tonight...NOT ALL TMJD sufferers clench and/or grind their teeth. I know that in earlier blogs I made this clear, but still, I need to repeat it more often. Many clenchers/grinders DO NOT DEVELOP TMJD. Many who NEVER clench or grind DO develop TMJD.

I was also caught short by the person's description of her intense pain and how it has permeated every single moment of her life. The sufferer is a nurse - she knows healthy habits and practices them. Again, I must stand truly chastised if I sound demeaning or if anyone believes that I am diminishing their pain. That is completely wrong on my part and something I never intended, but I will certainly be careful that I never sound this way again. So, I do want to apologize to those who feel that I have in any way diminished the seriousness of their condition or their pain. This was NEVER my intention.


TMJD is an extremely debilitating, depressing condition. The fact that it mostly affects women only is undoubtedly one reason why it's not researched and studied more carefully. If men suffered from this condition as much as women, perhaps there'd be a cure,or at the very least a good explanation for why it occurs. It seems that the causes of TMJD are as multifareous as the people who suffer from it.

I have talked with people who will never, ever chew again because of this condition and the irreversible procedures that well meaning dentists/doctors did to them. Others are thankful for a surgery that allowed them to live a "normal" life when it comes to eating.

For the lucky ones, this condition is temporary and/or transient. For many, however, it is a debilitating, excruciatingly painful fact of life. Anybody who has had TMJD has suffered in ways that ONLY a TMJD patient can begin to understand.

My deepest, sincerest apologies to all whom I may have offended. Because this is the second time that someone has taken serious offense at my presentations, I will no longer blog unless I have something "documentable" or "newsworthy" to discuss. My opinion should not be part of this blog.

If you've had success in treating or overcoming this condition, please contact me with this information so I may share it with others who may greatly benefit from your experience.

For TMJD Sufferers, a Softer Diet Could Mean a Healthier Diet

For those suffering from TMJ Disorder, changing to a softer, easier-to-chew diet, could mean a switch to a healthier way of eating.

This won't be true, of course, if one indulges in a steady stream of milkshakes and margaritas!

Softer diets generally don't have as much meat in them as standard fare. Meat is not at all bad for a person, but the amount of meat that Americans eat tends to be excessive. Meat is not needed on a daily basis, for one thing. Despite the plea to "show me the meat," many types of meat, especially processed meats, are laden with chemicals, preservatives, and hormones.

When one cuts back on meat, there is a tendency to fill the plate with some form of pasta. Pasta also is not bad for one...in moderation. Instead of pasta, one should try to fill one's plate with vegetables. Cooked vegetables are almost always easy-to-chew. While many people prefer their vegetables raw, this is usually not possible for the TMJD sufferer. Buy vegetables in season, preferably organic, and you may see the pounds drop in addition to the jaw improve.

Because of the economic downturn, many people tend to cut back on fresh produce because, in all honesty, it's expensive. However, buying vegetables in season will help with this cost; in addition, try growing some in patio containers or in a backyard garden. It's amazing how much better something seems to taste when one has raised it oneself!

Don't like vegetables? There's surely one you like...just eat it.

If, however, fresh vegetables are just not affordable, a good substitute is beans. Beans are cheap, versatile and...EASY-TO-CHEW. Besides being filled with protein, they're also a great source of fiber.

The key in all of this is to try to approach a softer diet with a positive mindset. Think of the benefits you'll derive from this way of eating, and don't focus on what you think you're missing out on.

You Can Conquer TMJ: Ideas and Recipes (Moonlight Mesa Associates) is a good resource for anyone looking for healthful, easy-to-cook, easy-to-chew, mostly one pot/pan meals. It's available at amazon.com.

Softer Diets Are Key to Easing TMJD Pain

It sounds too simple, but it's indisputable: Eating a softer diet is a key element in easing jaw pain.

By softer diet, I don't mean pureed foods, oatmeal and a steady flow of soup, milkshakes, and margaritas! There are many items one can eat when one is experiencing TMJD, and many of these foods are meals that everyone in the family will enjoy also.

One of the best items to consider eating, not surprisingly, is beans, which are full of protein and fiber. The benefit here is that most people suffering from severe bouts of TMJD are unlikely to be able to chew meat, particularly if it's the least bit tough, stringy, or "chewy." Beans, however, provide an array of important nutrients (including protein); they're easy on the budget, and they can be made into a myriad of tasty dishes. (For added nutrition, add a quarter cup of lentils the last hour of cooking.)

Hopefully, one will not resort to canned beans which are often high in sodium and who knows what else to "preserve freshness." Beans do take time to cook, however, so if time is a problem, try using a crockpot to prepare them. The beans can cook all day on low and will be ready to serve when you're ready to eat. You Can Conquer TMJ:Ideas and Recipes includes numerous, easy-to-cook, easy-to-chew recipes, including many tasty bean and lentil dishes.

Besides beans, another easy-on-the-jaw-and-pocketbook item is pasta in all its glorious shapes, sizes and colors. While pasta is admittedly high on the glycemic index, the dish is still worth serving because of its versatility. It can be served chilled, hot, plain, with sauces, as a side dish, main dish, etc.

If pasta is strictly off limits, You Can Conquer TMJ:Ideas and Recipes has a plethora of fish menus. Fish is usually chewable by all but the most critically ailing TMJD sufferers.

One may need to eat a softer diet to achieve relief for jaw pain for many months - sometimes up to a year. However, one will most likely experience substantial easing of pain after eight weeks on a softer diet. The key, however, is to maintain watchfulness about what one eats long after the pain is gone. TMJD is a disorder that is likely to flare again.

You Can Conquer TMJ: Ideas and Recipes, considered by many to be the gold standard in TMJD cookbooks, is available at amazon.com, www.rlcoffield.com and www.moonlightmesaassociates.com

TMJ Disorder and Nutritional Deficiencies

TMJ Disorder often results from prolonged cases of Bruxism. Bruxism is the medical term for tooth grinding. When grinding continues over a long period of time, besides wear and tear on the teeth, often TMJ Disorder develops because of the resultant stress on the jaw joint.

Bruxism can develop if a person's teeth are overly sensitive to heat and cold. Other causes include stress and allergies. More and more health experts nowadays believe that nutritional deficiencies can also cause bruxism.

One of the major things to take into consideration in all of this, is the amount of sugar that is consumed. It's recommended that people who grind their teeth and/or have TMJ Disorder, adopt a hypoglycemic diet. This is a diet that is "...high in fiber and protein and includes plenty of fresh vegetables and high-fiber fruits, plus legumes, raw nuts and seeds, skinless white turkey or chicken, broiled fish, and whole grains." In addition, eat starchy vegetables, like potatoes, and sweet fruits in moderation. Even though people believe fruit to be healthful, which it is, it is also extremely high in sugar.

It's also recommended that one eat six to eight small meals a day instead of three large ones.

Other suggestions are to avoid alcoholic beverages, which I've already discussed in another blog. Avoid fast foods, fried foods, processed foods and red meat, refined sugar, saturated fats, and severely limit dairy products. Avoid all foods with food coloring and preservatives.

Another recommendation is to avoid eating six hours before bedtime. Again, the idea is to not have sugar in the system. People who suffer from bruxism tend to have high blood sugar levels, so there may be a very strong correlation here between sugar intake and the tooth grinding.

Just because you may not eat table sugar, however, doesn't mean you're not getting a big dose of sugar anyway. High fructose corn syrup is an insidious product that has worked its way into almost every prepared food there is, from bread to packaged goods.

A final thought is to try taking Vitamin B complex. For some reason, many people are low in the B vitamins and these are positively critical. Major doses are not necessary or recommended. 100 mg. of each major B vitamin twice daily will do the trick.

There are other vitamins and minerals one can take as well, but try changing your diet first. The hardest part for most people is the withdrawal from sugar. It will take about two weeks. After that you'll begin to find that sweet, sugary taste quite repugnant.

It may be probable that people with TMJ Disorder/Bruxism are people who have deformed dental arches. Deformed dental arches occur due to parents' diet high in refined white flour and sugar which then affects the child's dental development.

Almost all the recipes in You Can Conquer TMJ:Ideas and Recipes are aligned with these eating recommendations. You'll find plenty of wholesome, easy-to-prepare, mostly one pot meals that will be easy on your jaw, filling and tasty too. You Can Conquer TMJ:Ideas and Recipes is available at amazon.com and http://www.rlcoffield.com/, as well as http://www.moonlightmesaassociates.com/.

Is Your Impatience Making Your TMJ Disorder Worse?

Is your impatience making your case of TMJ Disorder worse? All too often this is indeed the case. Statistically, 95% of all cases of TMJ Disorder will resolve given TIME and a SOFTER DIET. But how many people are willing to make these two sacrifices?

TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS

Some one once made this silly statement, but it actually is true when it comes to most bodily ailments. As a rule, however, most people do not want to take the time to let their bodies heal naturally, and there is no question that nature's way can seem painstakingly SLOW compared to the promise of pharmaceutical painkillers, oral surgery, plastic mouth devices, etc.

Most people will run to a doctor, dentist, chiropractor, surgeon...whatever it takes to end pain of any kind as quickly as possible. And this is completely understandable. Pain is one thing that gets every person's attention! However, all too often medical intervention in dealing with TMJ Disorder can be more devastating, or prolong the healing time, than letting nature and a softer diet do their job - however slowly.

TMJ Disorder is a mysterious ailment, most frequently affecting females. How long this disorder has been around is not really certain. Some believe this disorder is a modern ailment that occurs because of many people having deformed dental arches due to poor dietary nourishment, specifically refined white flour and sugar.

There are many speculations, however, about its cause. There are equally as many guesses at its cures. For most people, however, the cure is simple - yet long.

SOFT DIET AND TIME

Over time, a softer diet will greatly alleviate the stress on the jaw joint and allow the jaw joint to return to normal. When we speak of time, we are talking six months to a year, sometimes more. To try to circumvent this diet/time necessity with painkillers, devices, irreversible dental procedures, etc, is mostly unproductive at best, and often more debilitating or even disastrous.

A softer diet does not mean oatmeal and soup. There are many nutritional meals one can eat that are easy to prepare and also meals that family/friends will enjoy. You Can Conquer TMJ: Ideas and Recipes has an excellent selection of tasty, nutritious, easy-to-prepare, easy-to-chew meals that will please just about everyone's palate.

This book is available at http://www.moonlightmesaassociates.com/, http://www.rlcoffield.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/ .

Stop Dieting and Just Eat Sensibly for Best Results

If you’re a typical American, you’re overweight or obese. You’ve tried every diet in the book; you’ve bought herbal supplements; you’ve taken Hydroxy Cut and compromised your liver’s health; you’ve taken ephedra and compromised your heart’s health; maybe you’ve even tried out for the reality show, World’s Biggest Loser.

You’re frustrated and unhappy. Sometimes you just throw in the towel and give up altogether and then pack on another ten pounds. Does this sound familiar?

Here are some recommendations that may be of help. There is no magic bullet for everyone, but MOST people will benefit from these straight forward practices.

First, see an endocrinologist and make sure your metabolism is actually working correctly. You could get a leg up on this by reading Dr. Diana Schwarzbein’s excellent book, The Schwarzbein Principle. It’s interesting, easy to read and makes perfect sense. The woman is a leading specialist in her field, so she knows what she's talking about!

If you’re up for a truly intensive analysis of food and its effects on a person, read Weston A. Price’s Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and/or Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories. These three books alone should be required reading for everyone concerned about their weight.

What you will discover in all of this is pretty simple: what makes a person fat is EXCESS CALORIES. Carbohydrates seem to be the biggest culprit in this battle of the bulge, however. Study after study has shown that FAT DOES NOT MAKE A PERSON FAT. Cutting carbohydrate intake is the first and most important step a person needs to take to lose excess weight. So, cut carbohydrate intake down.

Exercise is key to burning calories. This is simple: find an activity that you can do that you enjoy, and then JUST DO IT. Make a commitment to yourself.

Finally, a good cookbook may be helpful. Schwarzbein offers some excellent recipes in her book. You’ll also find healthful, balanced meals in One Pot Galley Gourmet, a cookbook filled with easy-to-prepare, mostly one pot, healthy recipes. You won’t get fat eating any of these meals, unless of course you continue to overeat!

Remember, Rome was not built in a day, and neither was your waistline. Be kind to yourself and don’t starve yourself to death. Stop dieting and just eat sensibly. Exercise. For most people it’s that simple.

EASY Tips to Maintaining or Achieving Health

It sounds simple, and it is. The keys to a healthy life are available for everyone, and at no cost. Many people who are slaves to medical care can cast off that mantle of expense and despair by just adopting these four simple principles.

Eat Healthfully

Eating healthfully sounds easy enough, yet statistically 2/3 of all Americans are overweight or obese. Where does one start? The four most deadly foods:

• Soda pop


• Processed foods containing numerous chemicals including high fructose corn syrup


• Sugar


• Highly refined white flour products

There are a plethora of nutritionists and scientists who agree that eliminating these items alone will drastically improve one’s health. From the original 1930’s harbinger of nutritional warning, Weston A. Price in Nutrition and Degenerative Disease, to science writer Gary Taubes and Good Calories, Bad Calories in 2006, increasing numbers of health professionals are strongly advising people to avoid sugar (including high fructose corn syrup) and refined white flour.

Exercise Regularly

Exercising regularly does not require gym membership. The simple act of walking can suffice for most individuals. A very worthy goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day, which equates to about 5 miles. Most people, shockingly, only average 400 steps per day.

Obviously some people are not able to walk because of disabilities, but most people are able to do some form of exercise that does not require expensive gym membership. There are channels on the television that are dedicated to exercise, and don’t discount housework, yard work and gardening as beneficial forms of exercise. Dumb bells are effective and cheap and will easily suffice for weight bearing exercise, as will the rubber tubing devices.

Get Enough Sleep

Surprisingly, lack of adequate sleep is a prime culprit contributing to weight gain and illness. Despite hectic schedules, all people should get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep, at a minimum. Sleep provides the body time to repair and to restore itself to maximum function.

Turn off lights while sleeping. Studies indicate that any source of artificial light in a room, no matter how tiny, keeps a person from producing melatonin.

Reduce Stress

This last recommendation is, for some, easier said than done. All too often, however, people carry stress that is unnecessary and unproductive. Recognize things that are beyond your control and learn to let these items go. This may mean limiting one’s exposure to continuous bad press. Sitting and watching the news and negative talk shows or crime dramas all evening may ultimately be contributing greatly to one’s stressful state of mind.

Being continuously stressed can contribute greatly to poor health:

• Stressed people often over eat or crave fats and sweets.


• Stress and depression can cause sleep difficulties.


• Depressed/stressed people tend to exercise far less than their more positive counterparts.


• Ironically, lack of exercise can in turn contribute to depression and stress.
  

The Power of Positive Thinking

Never underestimate the power of thinking positive thoughts! As Joseph Murphy, the author of The Power of Your Subconscious Mind said, " You are what you think, all day long." And, "Change your thoughts and you change your destiny."

Yes, it really is this easy to improve your health. Take it one step at a time, and remember, be kind to yourself. Times are tough enough.

An excellent cookbook for those wanting to eat healthy, nutritious, easy-to-prepare, DELICIOUS food is One Pot Galley Gourmet, a cookbook that specializes in tasty, healthful, easy, one pot meals. It's available at amazon.com and http://www.moonlightmesaassociates.com/ and www.rlcoffield.com