Pain in the temporomandibular joint

[Junot]

I've been experiencing pain in my right temporomandibular joint for two days now. I'm kind of worried cause there was no trauma on that area that I can remember, it just started aching out of the blue. When I press over it with my fingers I feel it a bit swollen in comparison to the other joint. The pain gets worse when I open my mouth. Additionally, when I wake up, the joint is somewhat stiff. I'm afraid I will have to undergo surgery. I think I will schedule an appointment with the dentist to get this checked. My GP is an absolute idiot and at best he would only prescribe a painkiller and send me home. I think I should have a x-ray done though. By the way, have you ever experienced this? Any tips on how to relieve the pain? I've been trying to avoid NSAID painkillers... Maybe acetominophen/paracetamol will do, but I would still prefer a non-pharmacological method.

[Serenity1990]

Yeah TMJ is very common in anxiety. It's caused by tension carried in the jaw area and/or clenching.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, I had this for about 6 months a while ago. It has gone now and has never come back.

Your dentist can check your teeth for evidence of grinding as mine did and x-ray if needed. It can also be determined by feeling the muscles around your jaw to determine if they are inflamed which is what causes the pain and the fact you may not be able to open your mouth wide (just like when any muscle becomes exhausted).

You may get pain up the right side of your face too. If you touch near you temple and then clench, you can feel the muscles move there so overuse can cause some acheing/pain up there to so if that happens, its normal with this.

Headaches are also often experienced so don't read into it, its part of the same issue.

I was the same, it was worse in the morning and my dentist told me I was grinding in my sleep. He game me a simple exercise to perform before sleep and advised a night guard was possible. I came across someone else in an anxiety & depression walk-in groups who had been through it and no longer had it as well and he advised against this as they are not very good.

The exercise was:

1) Open your mouth wide.
2) Touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue.
3) Repeat.

I just did it a few minutes before bedtime and it helped. Give it a try.

In the end nothing was working for me and I found taking paracetamol at bedtime seemed to take it off and eventually it just went.

My GP was useless. He just said "people with anxiety get things like this" and when I pressed for advice on how to get rid of it he just repeated this statement so I gave up asking. I only wanted to know if I could sort it out naturally!!!

Its dead common by the way in anxiety. A recommendation for this when I was looking for solutions was relaxation techniques so give them a try as they will help your anxiety as well.

[Junot]

My joint is a tiny bit less achy today, or so it seems. I'll try the exercises to further ease the pain. It's been awful!

Yes, I do get headaches and migraines (only on one side of head) occasionally. Sometimes they last for several days.

I thank you both for your replies.