Kava Kava for Chronic TMJ Pain
Chronic TMJ pain can be very VERY difficult to deal with. The situation is compounded due to the fact that you can relax as much as you want during the day, but at night your jaw clenches and tightens the muscles, further aggravating the already painful situation.
Mouth guards and splints have traditionally been used to help relieve jaw clenching and the muscle pain associated with TMJ. Many take anti inflammatory medication like Ibuprofen and Advil (technically they are the same thing…). This is good, though users have been known to develop an immunity to Advil and require larger and larger doses to get even minimal results.
In such cases, sometimes it is good to branch out into other kinds of medications. Kava Kava root is a very popular herbal remedy to TMJ pain, or indeed muscle pain in general. It especailly helps reduce the jaw clenching and muscle tightness that often occurs while sleeping. Here’s one of the best short overviews we could find on the net from http://www.drmyattswellnessclub.com/kavakava.htm:
Description - Kava Kava (Piper methysticum) is approved in Europe as a treatment for nervous anxiety, depression, insomnia, and restlessness. Clinical studies have found Kava Kava as effective as benzodiazepine drugs but without the undesirable side effects (impaired mental acuity and addiction).
Kava is also an antispasmodic and muscle relaxant. It has anesthetic effects on the urinary tubules and bladder. With its analgesic properties, Kava is a good remedy for chronic pain. Kava is also effective for intestinal colic (pain) caused by IBS.
Suggested dose: 1 Capsule (40-75 mg kavalactones per cap) 1-3 times per day.
Honestly though, I haven’t found this to be overly effective in helping my TMJ. I haven’t tried it for a long time, so maybe it deserves another shot. Does Kava Kava work for you? What have you found that helps relieve the pressure and pain?
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April 21st, 2009 at 12:35 am
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September 15th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Kava works quite well for a number of problems including TMJ. Have you tried it in hot water as a tea (described on the drmyattswellnessclub.com/kavakava.htm link above?) It seems to work much better that way at least for me.
September 16th, 2009 at 12:09 am
No we haven’t tried it in hot tea yet. That sounds delightful though with a little lemon and honey though!