I really need some encouragement & suggestions now. My tmj has flared up which means face pain, migraine, off balance feeling, nausea, weird head sensation & anxiety. I am still using mouth splint at nights.
I guess I just want someone to hold my hands & tell me that it will be okay!

I am so sorry you are going thru this. It is NO fun. I have had this for a few years. It goes away and then returns. Been to a specailist. Wasted 1200.00 on mouth guards ,which made it worse. Then one day i noticed that I shift my jaw to the right. It makes my bite way off. so i really watched it and made sure I kept it to the left and my teeth lined up. It got better. Also I have a spot on the top of my shoulder that is tight and if I rub it to much it makes my jaw really sore for a few days. So wierd this stuff is!It comes and goes all the time. I do occasionally take a muscle relaxer. If I do that for a couple days it goes away. But I dont like how it makes me feel but the relief is worth it. Heat is great! But some like cold. All I can say is that I feel for ya and nobody understands it unless they have it. Be good to yourself and get better before Christmas! I am thinking of you.

MyFaith

I understand what you are going through. Yes, sweetie it will be okay. My TMJ comes and goes. Right now it is revisiting me...unwelcomed, of course.

I went for a walk yesterday and kept hearing this clicking. I thought it was the pull on my coat's zipper, bouncing and hitting the zipper. So I held the zipper pull. Still the ever elusive clicking continued. Maybe my earring? After ruling out several other things, I realized...it was my jaw ...well, this is new.

Hope you feel better soon.

(((HUGS)))

Bella

Count me in too girls> my TMJ acts up when I'm not sleeping good> stress. Plus maybe the cold weather?

My doctor change my hard acrylic splint to a soft mouth guard which I like better.

Myfaith, make a small rice bag and heat it in the microwave and hold it to the jaw area> really helps!

Also no hard chewing> no gum etc!


You may need to wear the splint 24/7 until things settle down!

Can I join this club? I just saw a specialist last week and he said I have arthritis in the jaw, the tmj joints. How joyful!!! I hope to start a bunch of procedures to make it better. Today I had pain on the top of my head which I believe goes with tmj. I did tell him about that. He did a two and half hour exam, pressed my head, jaw, neck back, did scans and x-rays, etc. Amazing how it's all connected. I am trying ibuprofen today for the head pressure, now its moving to the temples, back of neck and around the eye. Glad it's leaving the head, it makes me feel sort of lightheaded and dizzy, but not really, if that makes any sense.

I may try xanax to relax everything if it continues. I hope we ALL feel better this is miserable. I think the damp weather is making it worse.

Enough, I remember that we have many of the same tmj symptoms. I also was diagnosed, this pass Spring, with arthritis in the jaw. I just read recently that arthritis can trigger tmj. Please keep me posted, or send me a PM, concerning your doctor's suggestions and procedures. I saw a specialist in the Spring and had a mouth splint made after having a mri, x-rays, thorough examination, and consultation. The mouth splint works since I do clench my teeth while sleeping. My current flare up I think is from not eating correctly. I've been eating a lot of nuts, crunchy and chew foods lately. This is a big NO, NO for folks like us. So now I'm back to eating a bland soft diet. By the way my ibs also flared up during this time. If I remember correctly, don't you also have ibs?

I'm taking Ativan to help with the off balanced feeling and nausea that comes with both the tmj and ibs. This too shall pass. Thank you Lord.

Snowmoon, I've not heard of a soft mouth guard, I must inquire about this. I think you are right about wearing the mouth guard during the day. If I recall correctly, when I first got the mouth guard I did wear it during the day time for a couple of days. The doctor gave me a list of don't like yawning, prolong talking , tilting my head and using my shoulders to hold the telephone, chewing the inside of my mouth, biting my finger nails....these are just a few things that was mentioned.

That heated rice bag sounds sooooooooooo soothing. Will a heating pad work just as well?

I hope that we all can get out of this club real soon . Matter of fact I look forward to cutting up my membership card .

i can't believe you said nail biting. I have been a chronic nailbiter all my life. I am 48 and have done it since I was a preschooler. I now get fake nails to stop the biting. Yes, it's dumb, but without them I bite instantly, i try every few months to get rid of them and within a day, I a biting again. Gross? Yes. but I can't stop. The nails seem so phony, not like me, but I need to stop this habit, so, I say, Oh well, one less thing to worry about.

The heating pad will help, I think it's time.

Feel better ladies.

I actually had a misalignment on my left side that showed up on my MRI, I saw a TMJ specialist, he did a procedure call TMJ Arthrocentesis.
He had to pop my jaw back into place first and the rest was done with needles. May sound horrible but after it was done I wanted to hug him it felt so much better. The symptoms slowly came back but no were near like when it was misalign.

Don’t think we ever recover just learn how to manage it. No PEANUTS!
I took a bite of a butterfinger candy bar the other day and it was just hard enough to set off a attack.
Does anyone else get horrid headaches & brain fog with attacks?

My first splint was made for my upper teeth the second for the lower (soft one).
It’s like a soft type material, can’t remember what it is called.

Sometimes they have to play around to get what works! At least most insurance has to pay for TMJ.
I didn’t know that when I begun treatment until my doctor told me TMJ is treated as medical.
It’s against the law for medical insurance not to pay.

Myfaith>>You can make a rice bag, even if you sew it by hand. Take a piece of fabric>> fleece is nice about 3 ½” X 3 ½” (1/2” for the seam) sew ¾ around add just plain rice and sew it shut. Heat for about 20 to 30 seconds depending on your microwave. Don’t get it to hot or the rice could burn or you could burn yourself.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh it feels so good and loosen the jaw up some too! The rice bag works better then a heating pad because it’s moist heat.

Try it and trust me you will THANK ME!

Snow, I'm right there with you when it comes to headaches and brain fog with this tmj flare up. Heated rice bag...hmm.....

Enough, I have a habit of chewing the inside of my mouth. I know it sounds gross, but I've been doing this since....well as long as I can remember. I had stopped for a while then my tmj got better and within the last couple of months I'm resumed chewing. What's interesting is that the side that I chew the most (right) is where I'm experiencing the jaw pain. Hmm...let me see, could there be a connection? lol .

I'm with you. Mine is somewhat at bay right now, thanks to a major splint revision and Elavil. Ask your dentist about both! I talked my dentist into modifying my night guard so it acts like the NTI-TSS. It is built up in front to prevent the back teeth from touching. It is the clenching on the back teeth at night that causes the bad headaches. Elavil also deepens the sleep cycle so you spend less time in the phase of sleep in which clenching is more apt to occur.

Hey, I have a question. When your tmj is acting up, do you ever feel sensitivity in your cheek and upper lip? It sort of feels funny and then instantly when that happens my stomach tightens up. I know it is weird and sounds strange, but I think that my stomach tenses up from my nerves, because that facial sensation feels so strange. If this makes any sense at all. let me know.

Thanks

Funny that you should ask , lol... I'm sitting here right now with my right jaw and cheek feeling weird. Sorta hurting and tingling. Earlier I was playing with my niece, laughing and smiling and I wonder if all of this caused the weird sensation. It will pass .

Makes PERFECT sense. I don't get the lip sensitivity, but I do get the cheek sensitivity with the stomach tightening up.

Oh, I am so sorry you both get this, but glad I am not alone. The tmj specialist I went to but didn't follow through for treatments since it was $6500, diagnosed me with jaw arthritis and facila myalgia and a bunch of other things, so I guess that is part of it. It is a quick pain, and not fun, a strange sensation, one I am learning not to freak out over, but to let it float, so they say. It's not easy, but I am trying.