Teeth Grinding / Bruxism

[Guest guest]

I am wondering what your thoughts might be re. a pt. who comes for TX

of night - time teeth grinding and clenching. She wakes w/ very sore

jaw and face muscles. Obviously stress plays a role and exasorbates

the condition. I can't find much on this in any of my text books. Pt.

has very stressful job, some LV Qi stasis issues, not extreme, works

out, good support network, no damp, no LV Yang rising, no HA. Stools

are 1 - 2 X / day, well formed. No SP issues. Good diet, drinks lots

of water. No extreme lifestyle habbits. Pulse is sl. wiry, 60 bpm.

Tongue, pink, not puffy, some stasis spots, thin white coat, dk. sub

linguals but not distended. She's had this all her life and although

she hasn't had a dentist look at her bite, she does not feel her teeth

are abnormally alligned. This is hard to tell if your not a DDS. I

know there is a liver element, tendons and bones, stress. But beyond

that I'm kinda at a loss. Thanks for any input.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

Philippe Sionneau's series The Treatment of Disease in TCM deals with bruxism

in volume 3, and lists 5 different patterns that could account for it:Exuberant

heart and stomach fire, food stagnation, parasites (specifically roundworms), qi

and Blood vacuity, and liver wind. Night is yin time, so if he's just grinding

at night time, I would suspect liver wind from liver/kidney yin vacuity. Besides

the pulse being a little wiry is it at all thready or weak? Also specifically

how is the 3rd position particularly on the left side? In any event, if indeed

the s/s are consistant with this pattern, the principle would be to nourish

liver and kd yin, subdue yang (even though you didn't find signs of liver yang

rising, nonetheless, the excess yang could be causing this wind to stir in the

face, due to yin xu) and extinguish wind. The points he suggests are lv3,

gb20, kd3 and sp 6, and the formula would be zhen gan xi feng tang.

One other thing that is extremely effective in stopping bruxing is

CranioSacral Therapy. If you need a referral in your area, feel free to contact

me privately.

 

Hope I've been helpful,

 

Yehuda

 

stressinstudent <annesloft wrote:

I am wondering what your thoughts might be re. a pt. who comes for TX

of night - time teeth grinding and clenching. She wakes w/ very sore

jaw and face muscles. Obviously stress plays a role and exasorbates

the condition. I can't find much on this in any of my text books. Pt.

has very stressful job, some LV Qi stasis issues, not extreme, works

out, good support network, no damp, no LV Yang rising, no HA. Stools

are 1 - 2 X / day, well formed. No SP issues. Good diet, drinks lots

of water. No extreme lifestyle habbits. Pulse is sl. wiry, 60 bpm.

Tongue, pink, not puffy, some stasis spots, thin white coat, dk. sub

linguals but not distended. She's had this all her life and although

she hasn't had a dentist look at her bite, she does not feel her teeth

are abnormally alligned. This is hard to tell if your not a DDS. I

know there is a liver element, tendons and bones, stress. But beyond

that I'm kinda at a loss. Thanks for any input.

 

 

 

 

 

Subscribe to the new FREE online journal for TCM at Times

http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com

 

Download the all new TCM Forum Toolbar, click,

http://toolbar.thebizplace.com/LandingPage.aspx/CT145145

 

 

and adjust

accordingly.

 

 

 

Please consider the environment and only print this message if absolutely

necessary.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Yehuda,

Many thanks, you have been very helpful. I'll be getting the book you

mentioned, perhaps it is in my schools library.

Ann E.

-

yehuda frischman<

To:

Chinese Medicine <Chinese Medicine\

@>

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 12:40 AM

Re: Teeth Grinding / Bruxism

 

 

Hi,

 

Philippe Sionneau's series The Treatment of Disease in TCM deals with

bruxism in volume 3, and lists 5 different patterns that could account for

it:Exuberant heart and stomach fire, food stagnation, parasites (specifically

roundworms), qi and Blood vacuity, and liver wind. Night is yin time, so if

he's just grinding at night time, I would suspect liver wind from liver/kidney

yin vacuity. Besides the pulse being a little wiry is it at all thready or weak?

Also specifically how is the 3rd position particularly on the left side? In any

event, if indeed the s/s are consistant with this pattern, the principle would

be to nourish liver and kd yin, subdue yang (even though you didn't find signs

of liver yang rising, nonetheless, the excess yang could be causing this wind to

stir in the face, due to yin xu) and extinguish wind. The points he suggests

are lv3, gb20, kd3 and sp 6, and the formula would be zhen gan xi feng tang.

One other thing that is extremely effective in stopping bruxing is

CranioSacral Therapy. If you need a referral in your area, feel free to contact

me privately.

 

Hope I've been helpful,

 

Yehuda

 

stressinstudent <annesloft wrote:

I am wondering what your thoughts might be re. a pt. who comes for TX

of night - time teeth grinding and clenching. She wakes w/ very sore

jaw and face muscles. Obviously stress plays a role and exasorbates

the condition. I can't find much on this in any of my text books. Pt.

has very stressful job, some LV Qi stasis issues, not extreme, works

out, good support network, no damp, no LV Yang rising, no HA. Stools

are 1 - 2 X / day, well formed. No SP issues. Good diet, drinks lots

of water. No extreme lifestyle habbits. Pulse is sl. wiry, 60 bpm.

Tongue, pink, not puffy, some stasis spots, thin white coat, dk. sub

linguals but not distended. She's had this all her life and although

she hasn't had a dentist look at her bite, she does not feel her teeth

are abnormally alligned. This is hard to tell if your not a DDS. I

know there is a liver element, tendons and bones, stress. But beyond

that I'm kinda at a loss. Thanks for any input.

 

 

 

 

 

Subscribe to the new FREE online journal for TCM at Times

http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com<http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com/>

 

Download the all new TCM Forum Toolbar, click,

http://toolbar.thebizplace.com/LandingPage.aspx/CT145145<http://toolbar.thebizpl\

ace.com/LandingPage.aspx/CT145145>

 

<http://groups.ya\

hoo.com> and adjust accordingly.

 

 

Please consider the environment and only print this message if absolutely

necessary.