TMJ Questions

[Sam123]

Hi,

I wondered if anyone here has suffered with TMJ Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMD, TMJ).

I've read that many people with anxiety can develop this, the reason i ask is because about 5-6 years ago i went to my GP over the left side of my face(Masseter muscle) being very tight and slightly swollen. It was painful and my jaw felt very tight when opening my mouth, i had a scan and my face was checked, all i was told is that the muscle was very tight and how to massage it.

I never went back although the pain has gradually got worse over the years. I don't have any pain or difficulty eating though, which i know is a common symptom of it.

what i have is

Pain in the left ear
Pain in along jaw bone(left side) painful to touch
Pain left cheekbone
Left sided headaches
Recent dizziness/lightheaded
Feeling of pressure above nose
Discomfort and tightness when opening mouth

I'm not worried, it's only the dizziness makes me uneasy as it's not a symptom i'm familiar with, i'd just like to hear if anyone has been diagnosed with this :)

[swgrl09]

Hi Sam, I've been dealing with TMJ getting slowly worse over time too. I'm getting fitted for a night mouth guard next week to help with clenching in my sleep, but I know I clench during the day. I posted a thread a few months ago and people were really helpful posting exercises to do. I'll see if I can find a link to that thread. It's a little difficult from my phone though. Terry also posted a link to a book online that has great info about trigger points in the jaw.

I sometimes ice the muscles, other people like heat, but ice helps me more. I also massage the joint, neck, under the lower jaw, etc. It feels like an endless battle sometimes. I have neck problems too, so I'm not always sure what is effecting what. I don't have eating pain either btw. Sometimes my ears feel pain or blocked, sometimes when I yawn or swallow I feel it but not when chewing. The headaches and pain opening my mouth are annoying.

[JulieJay92]

i have before and do occasionally when i have an abcess

[swgrl09]

Now that I am home and on my computer ... here's my thread from a couple months ago about it:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=166483

[Sophie1]

Does anyone bite their tongue with TMJ? I have so many teeth marks on my tongue and its quite irritated.

[Sam123]

Now that I am home and on my computer ... here's my thread from a couple months ago about it:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=166483


Thanks for the link i will have a read through. It bothers me more that the left masseter muscle is visibly bigger than the right, also the corner of my jaw bone(below your ear) seems to protrude more than the right. So i'm not sure if this is a structural or musclular issue, like i said i did go years ago about it and was just told to massage the area, but it has got worse so i will be going back after my holidays.. Hoping the holiday may help! :D

I was asked by my GP if i clench and i said no because i wasn't aware that i did lol but i think i definitely do through the night and maybe when at work at my desk i'm doing it too. I will be doing the stretches and trying to relax the area as much as possible, i;m pretty sure the strange ear pain on that side is related and probably some recent headaches too.

[swgrl09]

Mine is bigger too, except the opposite side. I think it can be a bit of both honestly - muscular and structural. I always wondered why I had random ear pain, went to an ENT and had no issues, had a head CT as well and nothing but allergies. But it gets worse when my jaw and neck are worse.

[Sam123]

Yes i've noticed that with my neck too , i've recently started having strange pressure feeling in my head, pains in my sinus's and the feeling that i'm lunging forward so to speak, just feel generally off balance.

I've never had these symptoms with my anxiety in fact i've never had any dizziness before at all, so i'm thinking it is related some how to this. Not too sure how jaw/masseter muscles can do this but i do think it's related.

[Buttercat]

I have had pretty much all these symptoms as well.

My TMJ was helped so much by getting a mouth guard fitted by my dentist. When worn at night it stops all teeth clenching and that can really help.

Do you have sinus problems? Pain in your cheekbones, dizziness etc can be caused by that.

[swgrl09]

Buttercat, that's nice to read. I'm getting mine fitted next week and have been hesitant, as it will cost 200 dollars out of my pocket even with insurance. But it sounds like it was helpful to you, so I am more positive about it now.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi Sam,

I've probably said all about my experiences with this in the thread that swgrl has posted so I won't go over all that again as you have probably read it anyway. Hopefully that guide might help you? I think I've mentioned my symptoms on there, it was the usual headaches, jaw pain, couldn't close my teeth together, couldn't open fully, felt pressure when opening, etc. Clenching will cause headaches, when you clench you also clench the muscles around the temples. If you've seem that new migraine med thats been advertised the last few months on TV where the guy starts off with 'as a scientist I look for...blah blah blah', and he shows an image of the muscles tightening. Thats why you get headaches with clenching/grinding.

I only picked up on TMJ by being a watcher on this forum and then starting Googling from there. Not having HA, this wasn'y an issue for me, I just wanted some ideas and whether I could try anything.

What I learned was that TMJ does get used a lot for jaw pain but it doesn't mean it is and until a dentist says otherwise, it can just be what my GP said was very common for anxiety disorders, facial myopathy. My dentist spotted it straight away by looking at my wisdom teeth and with me saying it was worse in the mornings he worked out it was night grinding. He checked my jaw muscles and said they were enlarged but not TMJ, just a common swelling like any other muscle from overuse and gave me the advice I posted in that thread.

I see threads about TMJ thesedays and I go into them from this viewpoint, TMJ is a term that is banded around a lot for jaw pain but TMJ is a condition that differs and needs intervention as opposed to the usual muscular issues many of us can face.

A guard might help but there are some drawbacks to it (and mine was going to cost about £200+!) and you could resolve it without.

Some medications quote Bruxism in the side effects. Thats where mine came from.

The most common form of treatment - be less anxious. There are things you can do but it is like muscular tension so the real way to resolve it is to resolve what drives it. At least it is in the clenching/griding to my knowledge but others in this thread may have different experiences to throw some light on it.

I occasionally get it now. Guess when? When I have a particularly intense blip and yet again its in the night. However, it lasts a day, if that.

Anyway, I'm breaking the "do not give medical advice" rule on NMP and being as bold as shoving a prescription in your hand and demanding you take it, you have no choice - for a relaxing holiday and loads of sunbathing! :yahoo:

[Buttercat]

It's expensive to get them made but I have had mine for several years so it's not as if you keep having to fork out money and I can guarantee it will help if you clench or grind your teeth through the night.

Let us know how you get on with it.

[GingerFish]

I was diagnosed with TMJ about 6 months ago. I had no idea how debilitiating the pain from this could be! Its like having toothache, earache and a migraine all at once. I got diagnosed after having severe jaw pain for about a fortnight that was also causing earache and neck pain. No pain reliever I tried help and I felt suicidal from the pain (never would have though jaw pain could have been that bad tbh). I finally saw my GP and he told me instantly it was caused by me clenching my jaw when I am anxious. I noticed I done this on occasions but never realised just how often I done it. I have worn my back teeth down because of it. Dentist also confirmed it and I am waiting to get a mouth guard made to wear at night to stop some of the clenching and grinding.

He gave me naproxen for my jaw and after just one pill, the pain was 99% gone. I felt like dancing and singing. I still get bad flare ups like that every so often but the naproxen keeps it at bay. It gets worse when I am stressed as I clench my jaw. When I am not stressed, my jaw still clicks and locks which is painful. I also get dizziness and vertigo and the doctor put this down to possibly being caused by TMJ too.