Rapper and singer Iggy Azalea has an exciting new year to look forward to, but she took the opportunity to tell her fans on Twitter that she needs to take care of her health following a recent diagnosis.
Iggy Azalea, an Australian rapper, greeted her 3.7 million followers on Twitter with a health issue. On New Year 's Eve, she posted a series of tweets about her recent album release and her health condition. She has a condition called joint dysfunction disorder or temporomandibular joint dysfunction, or more commonly known as TMJ.
TMJ is a medical term for a condition wherein pain and dysfunction affects the jaw. It causes severe pain that may last for many years. More women have this disorder than men and it is common for people from ages 20 to 40. Common symptoms include pain on the jaw area, problems when opening or closing the mouth, locked jaw, clicking sounds and difficulty in chewing food.
The main causes of this disorder are habits of grinding or clenching the teeth, arthritis in the joint and stress because it tightens the muscles around the joint in the jaw. Azalea revealed that stress played a major role in her condition. The past year was indeed a blast for the rapper because of her achievements and involvement in some celebrity feuds.
Azalea tweeted, "I don't think western medicine all the way acknowledges what a huge toll mental stress takes on our bodies. But I do believe it is a factor." Hence, she said that she is planning to reduce her stress this year and to stay away from all the drama.
"I don't think it will ever prevent me from doing anything I want to, but it has made me realise it's important to look after yourself," Azalea told Billboard in an interview.
TMJ can be treated through various ways like medications, night splint or guard and dental work. It is not life-threatening though it can pose severe pain on the jaw. In her line of work, it would be hard for her to rest her jaw and treatment might be more difficult than expected.