Question for jaw pain sufferers

[Ditapage]

Hi Terry,

thank you for your detailed reply- a lot of helpful and great information there. My pain and discomfort is mostly right side as well, and worse when I wake up. I’m scared it’s the beginning of trigeminal neuralgia as
i also get sudden sharp pain if I chew sometimes but I’m hoping it’s still TMJ and just a result of the jaw being stiff on these occasions. I’ve had issues with swelling on that side like i’m very aware of my cheek on that side whereas my left side is completely non-problematic and it makes sense that the masseter enlarges. A dentist said Botox can relax the muscles again but I’m not sure I want to go down that route.

I woke up with pain and puffiness this morning , then I Searched lymph face massage on YouTube and feel like my pain and swelling decreased as a result of massage!

My dentist cant do anything more for me anymore :( I was driving to see her yesterday because of the pain and discomfort I had on that side and she told me to call her osteopath so now I have an appointment with him. Hopefully he can help too.

If you could share the before bed exercise that has helped your morning pain, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi Dita,

Here you go:

https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showth...hlight=Bruxism

I'm surprised they can't do more for you. I thought there were options ranging into surgery for TMJ?

My dentist noticed evidence of grinding damage on my back teeth. Since it was worse upon waking he determined I was grinding in my sleep (my teeth that is ).

The exercises did help but I reached a point where it wasn't shifting although it was minor. What then helped was taking 2 paracetamol before bedtime. For some reason I found this seemed to help.

In that thread there is a link to a book. If it still works there are some exercises in there for the jaw for something like TMJ.

If this is about your anxiety then there are ways to combat it that way too. You could do relaxation before bed or something like Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). PMR might have a more relevant facial version if you have a scan about.

Bringing your overall levels of anxiety down will likely help too if it's a clenching/grinding issue.

The coordinator at the walk-ins I used to attend had the same problem. He tried a night guard briefly but couldn't sleep with it in (I never bothered with one, my dentist did briefly mention it if things didn't improve, as I already had sleep trouble and didn't need any more) and he found sleeping with his little finger in the corner of his mouth helped!

[lebonvin]

There's little doubt that TMJ starts with anxiety teeth grinding. Did you know that you can get plastic tooth covers to put on at night to stop you doing it?

The best advice I ever gotten was that if you can stop doing it during the daytime, you'll eventually stop doing at nite

It's interesting how TMJ falls under dentistry in your country. Here it's physio and bone specialist. I guess becoz it's not actually a tooth problem as such.

Those YouTube clips are good even though it's free advertising. The gig is to keep doing all the time even when you don't got any pain.

[lebonvin]

It's kinda screwy that your dentist's doesnt consider TMJ not part of their job.

I would recommend a physio because they can do hands on manipulation of your jaw and teach you the self help exercises and make sure yous is doing them correct.

The other thing is to be aware of posture all the time especially when walking. Shoulders back, head up straight and chin tucked in at all times like what they teach us in the army. Make it a habit.

I'm not sure what a bone doctor would do apart from give you muscle relaxants. I've got some somewhere which I never took I'll try and find them and gives you the name.