TMJ? Jaw pain - help!

[.Poppy.]

I can't believe I've fallen into the pit of HA again. My new fear is, as the title says: TMJ.

I DO grind my teeth and have for years. I'm not sure if I do it when I sleep - I'm a mouth breather when I sleep so I doubt it. I know I do it during the day, though, and in like every way possible as well as popping my jaw. I have tried so hard to stop but it's such a habit that I often don't even notice I'm doing it.

Now my jaw is hurting on my right side in the area right in front of the bottom of my earlobe. It feels sore when I yawn as well. I can hear a sort of "whooshing" sound and it feels sore when I move it side to side too.

I am so scared of it being something like TMJ and that my mouth is just going to randomly lock up and I'm not going to know what to do. I'm also terrified that it's totally unfixable.

I've read there are really thin mouth guards you can have your dentist make to try and stop daytime grinding so I plan to ask at the next appointment. I'll probably bring up the jaw pain then too. But what do I do in the meantime? Has anyone had issues with this before?

[KeeKee]

I have this and it's not nice but I wouldn't worry about it even if you do have it. I once experienced 'lock jaw' for about a week and it was awful but it does correct itself. I went to a 'special' dentist because of this and was mainly just told I have tmj disorder.
If your jaw ever did lock you just make an appointment with your dentist (my cheek also swelled and felt as though it was full of pus, sorry tmi) and they'll reassure you. The main problems I get now is clicking in my jaw and it tends to get really painful if I eat chewy food.
I don't clench my teeth so not sure how mine all started. I've never had my jaw lock since though and it was awful I couldn't open it more than. About 3cm so eating was difficult.

[nirvanainchains]

Few weeks ago I was dealing with TMJ, my left jaw just below my ear opening is locked and tremendous pain can be felt when I try to open my mouth,even eating and brushing my teeth was a struggles. TMJ subsides after 3-4 days.

[Ditapage]

TMJ sucks. A flare up actually triggers panic attacks for me. I get numbness in my face, pains in my temple, side of my head, in my ear, behind my ear, if you clench your teeth and feel the side of your head, TMJ can inflame that muscle and it's hell. I have a friend with TMJ and we get all the same symptoms. It makes you feel like your eyes are bulging out of your head sometimes!

Yours doesn't sound that severe though. If the pain is just in the area you mentioned, alternate heat with ice on the area. I use an ice pack and a warm wet facecloth. Painkillers help too. But there's not much else you can do for it.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I went through this myself and it turned out to be Bruxism caused by my med. It lasted about 6 months in total but the last couple of months were much better.

Before going to mouth guard route, have you considered exercises aimed at reducing it?

There is a trigger point massage guide through this thread which includes jaw issues which swgrl said helped her:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=169782

My dentist told me to eat soft food for a while and gave me this exercise to perform at bedtime (I was only grinding in my sleep):

1. With closed mouth, touch tongue to the roof of the mouth.
2. Open your mouth wide.
3. Close mouth.
4. Repeat.

Keeping your tongue in place helps to stretch the jaw muscles. Mine were enlarged.

I thought it could be TMJ. I don't have HA so it didn't worry me, it was just an annoying pain in the body I wanted to sort out. But I picked up on TMJ from this forum (when I was a watcher) and my dentist told me to ignore TMJ as it's often not the case. And this is something I find reading on here, it's usually TMJ that is questioned yet it can just be Bruxism and the aches & pains that brings.

My dentist offered a mouth guard but I didn't bother as they are expensive and there are potential risks with them for long term use, although they may be rare issues I didn't look further into it.

Also, work on reducing your overall anxiety levels as this will drive it too.

[.Poppy.]

Thanks for the replies :) It makes me feel a little better that it's not really the end of the world.

I really don't know why I grind my teeth - it's probably stress and because I've formed a habit as well. I know I do it because I catch myself doing it; I was mainly curious about a mouth guard as I have tried to stop the grinding but haven't been terribly successful and don't want to do any further damage.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Have you tried to recognise when you do it, what the triggers are, etc? Then employed a strategy against it? Something to physically prevent the grinding?

The co-ordinator I knew at the walk in groups bought a night guard but stopped using it after 2 nights. The trouble with them is they change how you breathe and you know how that can be for us and how sensitive to insomnia we can be. He ditched his. In the end he started placing his little finger in his mouth at night and after a while it stopped his grinding.

So, I'm wondering whether there is something like that for you?

[Howl]

I'm pretty sure I suffer from this, it's in my right side too, but I also have problems with my ears. I get a crunching sound sometimes when I open my mouth and it sometimes feels tight. However, this doesn't worry me so much simply because well, it's not gonna kill you. If anything it'll be uncomfortable and painful, but I can deal with that, there are a lot worse things.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I'm pretty sure I suffer from this, it's in my right side too, but I also have problems with my ears. I get a crunching sound sometimes when I open my mouth and it sometimes feels tight. However, this doesn't worry me so much simply because well, it's not gonna kill you. If anything it'll be uncomfortable and painful, but I can deal with that, there are a lot worse things.

I had those with my Bruxism.

Crunching in ears, unable to open mouth fully due to feeling tight, couldn't clamp my teeth together, jaw clicking, etc.

The exercises helped mine.

[.Poppy.]

I tend to be a mouth breather at night, so I really don't think I do it when I sleep - just during the day. I'm sure stress brings it on; it's kind of just like a nervous habit, like biting nails would be. I've tried noticing it and doing something like chewing gum or sucking on candy to stop - it helps a little bit but sometimes the hyper awareness makes it even harder to stop.

I read that sometimes dentists can make you a really thin guard that can be worn during the day and doesn't impede speech or anything like that. I may bring it up and ask if he sees any effects from the grinding. I do it a lot but it's never come up in a checkup.

In any case, my jaw feels better today so that's something. Now I've moved on to a different health worry so probably more miserable overall.