Other Temporomandibular joint disorder

[Smile]

I have TMJ but am not consciously aware of tensing my jaw. I don't grind my teeth, just constantly tense jaw. Every so often the pain gets bad... Like now :(

Anyone have any tips on how to relax the jaw? It seems to be harder to relax than other body parts...

Thanks :)

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

What is TMJ?

 

[Ghostybear73]

I have TMJ from a hit to the jaw so I know what your feeling. For me, I can sleep on it wrong, have pain which makes me think of the past, which stresses me out, which causes me to clench my jaw causing more pain, right back to the past, more clenching, more pain; you get the picture.

I have a specialized splint for it, but if you don't have insurance that covers it, it is pretty expensive. So, I would suggest you go to someplace like Wal-Mart and pick up a mouth guard (like for football players). There is instructions on how to melt it down to mold to your teeth and wear it at night. I have a day splint as well, but you can wear the football one during the day, it'll just look silly if your out and about. It stops the locking completely. I know there are times when my jaw is so bad, I can't open it.

Stay away from things like gum, beef jerky, hard candies and whatever else that causes a lot of stress on the jaw.

 

[Ghostybear73]

@Ayesha TMJ (temporal mandibular joint) disorder is when your jaw clicks/locks when you open and close your mouth. It is commonly caused by grinding your teeth/clenching your jaw while your sleeping. The main symptoms are usually pain and headaches. There are times when I can only get my mouth to open far enough to slip a straw through. My jaw has been dislocated a time or two, so it can "pop" out completely, like when I am eating (it really freaks people out).

 

[Lotusstarr]

I have tmj disorder as well. I've been seeing my orthodontist about it, and wearing a bite plane at night, but it is pricey, and I have to get it adjusted every couple of months which costs about a hundred dollars as well. I also went to see a physiotherapist for a session, and she gave me some exercises for my neck, that was meant to help me relax my neck/shoulders/jaw. If you want, I can message them to you.

 

[Lotusstarr]

I was also told to be consciously aware, during the day, about clenching my teeth together. When your teeth are in rest, they should be slightly separated from each other, never touching.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I have TMJ and it sucks! My issues are related to whiplash as well. They just feed off each other. :(

I am currently seeing a physical therapist. I am going to find a neuromuscular dentist as well. The dentists around here only make bite plates and this isn't the most advanced treatment for TMJ.

Other things that help are chewing as little as possible, meaning no gum chewing, limit hard/chewy foods (ie hard bagels, etc)

 

[JadedGhost13]

I have TMJ as well. I grinded my back teeth down pretty bad and even cracked some teeth from clenching and grinding so much.

 

[franciemarnie]

I did teeth clenching in my sleep. Constant pain in jaw especially parallel to ears in face. My teeth started chipping away. Torture and a nightmare.

The tooth guard changed a lot. $200 from dentist but try Pharmacy. It is worth it.

I was holding tremendous anger and not expressing it. I was keeping my jaws clenched unconsciously so I wouldn't let it out. Therapy and getting out of a lousy job and away from lousy people helped too as did safely expressing the anger.

 

[Seasounds]

Two things:
1.The best thing I did to relax my jaw was to take a Linklater voice class: involves systematic relaxation of every part of the body, including the jaw. Wow, what a release!

2. I've also benefited from CUSTOM made bite guard from my dentist-initially needed it to relax my jaw so we could adjust my bite. Now I can use it when I am stressed.

You might look for jaw relaxation exercises-UTube, Google, etc. Consistency and patience pay off!

 

[Deleted member 1860]

The tooth guard changed a lot. $200 from dentist but try Pharmacy. It is

Please don't do this. Cheap guards from the pharmacy can make you worse! Many don't know this, including doctors. I've tried a number of different guards and I always woke up feeling worse with my bite out of line. My dentist told me the pharmacy guards are pretty much worthless if you have TMJ.

 

[franciemarnie]

@Solara - I never tried one from pharmacy although I figured theoretically it might work insofar as I bought a teeth whitening system years ago where you dip the thing into boiling water for ten seconds and then before it cools, you stick it in your mouth and it molds to your teeth and I thought maybe they have something like that for a tooth guard.

I would recommend the dentist route. It might be a few bucks but it's worth it. I wish I had done that before my front teeth started chipping. (Black walnut root can strengthen the teeth from inside out just in case anyone's teeth are getting thin from this. My teeth are strong again and don't chip anymore.)