My TMJ is so bad these days. I have been doing the warm compresses, the soft foods, (which I am soooo sick of). My ear esp. the left side where the TMJ and Jaw Arthritis is the worst, is so sore when I lay on it making sleep miserable. I toss and turn all night. I bought a $50.00 pillow from the chiropractor which is so comfortable, but the ears are really a problem. It is not an infection or anything, believe I have been checked and rechecked. I was a specialist for TMj that would charge $6500.00 for relief, but , Hello, who can afford that? Really. I am out of work and very tense too, that doesn't help, so I am sure I am clenching more making the ears hurt too. I try benydryl to sleep and it doesn't really so much. I guess there isn't much any of you can do I am really just complaining and I am sorry for that. I am just so tired. Thanks as always for listening.

Find a specialist and ask them about getting injections into your tmj joints. It really does work. If you can find the $ for the specialist I would strongly urge you to do it. Trust me they KNOW what they are doing if you get the right one!

I'm sorry you are suffering so. Have you tried a bite guard at night? They are relatively inexpensive and frequently help with the pain resulting from clenching and grinding your teeth at night. Just a thought. I hope you feel better soon!
Jan

I can't find a dentist around me that will do one for under $500.00 Most are around $1000.00. I read that the ones from the drug store all say not to use with TMJ so I am sort of stuck. The specialist I saw won't do just the injection, they want me to do the whole treatment and I cannot do it. thanks for your quick answers.

Sorry you are still suffering

Know we have talk about this before but I can't remember if I ask if you can find a doctor to do a TMJ Arthrocentesis procedure?
I had it done on my left side and it felt so great afterward.

Will your dentist take payments on a night guard? You may not feel any relief if you don't have some kind of splint therapy.
If you are clenching and grinding you will end up with broken tooth-surface wear etc.
So the cost now may save you later!

enough, What kind of pillow do you have?

I don't officially have tmj but think I am tensing or clenching my jaws especially the left side. I have one upper crowned molar and two bottom ones on that side. It first bothered me last Feb and I was in pain. I even had to call the dentist on his day off. I got antibiotics and pain meds. By the time, I saw him, it wasn't hurting so bad. He took x-rays and checked my bite on that side. He thought top tooth might have a decay or crack under the crown. I made a later appt for that. When I went to that appt, I was in no pain so he said since no pain, he wouldn't do anything. Since then, it has bothered me off and on. I wonder if I am having anxiety or stressing about something, it comes back. It came back. I just happened to have a reg appt with hygenist for cleaning. I saw the dentist. They took x-rays and it didn't show anything. I asked him if it could be because I was tensing and clenching. He said he could make me a dental guard. I asked if dental insurance would cover it and he didn't know. A gal from the office piped in and said no. He said try one of the drugstore ones that you have to boil. Well, I had gotten one of those a couple of months ago. It does not work so great but helps a bit. Kind of hard to sleep in-not that I can sleep much at night anyway. Lately it has been bothering me again. Sometimes the top will hurt or it's the bottom or both.. Sometimes I can feel it go up to my eye. A week or so ago, I don't know what I was doing but even my neck and shoulders were aching. I tend to sleep wrong on my neck, too. I read how expensive tmj specialists are. I even thought of going to a chiropractor. I got some samples of tmj cream from some website. It smells minty like a pain cream. I rub that on the outside of my jaw. I even use orajel on inside. I take tylenol or aspirin. Sometimes xanax. Sometimes by night, I feel great. During the night and come morning, I feel awful. Even feel headachey. I have taken benadryl during the day, too, and it helps a bit. Is it the way I am sleeping, clenching, or maybe someday I will need root canals. I feel for your suffering. It's the pits to add along with other things that happen to be bothering a person during menopause. I even mentioned to the hygenist about menopause and how women's teeth will hurt because of hormones. She said they had a lady in who was having teeth pain and she took some med and it went away. I don't know if this lady took hrt or what. Hope you find some relief! Pam

I haven't found a doctor who will do anything, not even an ent. I am financially strapped, so I cannot really do anything. I know it's not good to live this way, but I truly can't add another expense right now. UGH!

the pillow is a waterpillow, not sure of the brand, but I can check into it. You add water like a water bed, very very comfortable. $50 for a large, not sure about the small.

I wish my insurance covered acupuncture, that helps, but again, too expensive.

Pam, the eye pain, neck and shoulder pain are all related, it can even go into the fingers and to the top of the head. It is awful.

Thanks for all your support everyone.

Thanks enough! I even thought of acupuncture. I know it is expensive, too. I try to do some home remedy things as in heat or cold, etc. I even looked up tmj exercises online. You take care!

Just an FYI...I bought moldable mouth trays like you would use for teeth whitening for a few bucks. You drop them in hot water and then mold them to your teeth. My dentist told me to sleep with the bottom tray and it would suffice. It has worked for me at hardly any cost. Hope this helps.

DLT

Hi ladies,

Count me in (what haven,t I had would be easier!!!) tmj aaagh, had awful bout of that over christmas tooth pain/jaw clicking then moved into neck up into head??

Had a recent bout of agonising toothache,even pain killers didn,t work..(surely an abcess?) went to dentist expecting the worst did xrays etc NOTHING showed up?? pain went away...........

My neck right side(normally any pain is left?) is aching now keeps sort of moving around,not a need a pain killer pain just achey annoying??

Asked my dentist if signs of grinding said no,did say stress can cause it though??

Hmmmm my right ear has just started burning now...................... just posted on this the other day

WHATEVER NEXT
Does anyone else get migrating pain? almost feel it moving to it,s next joint/muscle

Oooh ladies

A pain free day to you all

kath

On top of this ear and jaw thing, my sinuses yesterday started acting again. I felt like a tight wide band was wrapped around my head near the eyebrows and cheeks. Does the fun ever stop?

Where did you buy these moldable mouth trays? I looked at Target, Walmart, etc. All I could find were ones like Aquafresh that were prefilled. Thanks! Pam

Yes it does. I have had TMJ problems for years and I would say that over the past decade I have had a lot of jaw tension and have woken up feeling like I was clenching all night. I had put it down to misalignment, past whiplash injuries stress etc. It was so bad that, in the past few years, I was woken up a couple of times by the pain of my lip getting inadvertently caught between my teeth as I was clenching. I would also get tooth pain when I got headaches or felt that my sinuses were acting up. Then around last Feb or March it seemed to go away. I still have a lot of clicking and locking in the joint (that part is probably due to the misalignment and injuries) but the feeling of muscle tension is much better. The same is true for my neck and shoulders and back as well as head pressure. I still have joint pain from my injuries but the muscle component has improved. Now, some of it is back today because I am in what seems to be a high hormone phase (bloated, swollen ankles, breasts) but it will probably go away again at the end of my next period (if I get one, I am nearing the end). When I think of the years that I suffered with muscle tension and didn't know it was hormone related. I ended up misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia. I have since read that the muscle pain of peri can be the worst in the earliest stages when periods are closer together and before the cycles start to lengthen skip as. estrogen can be unusually high. I have had a number of periods since the muscle tension has improved, but with a couple of exceptions they have been farther apart so maybe that's it.

Here is an abstract I thought was interesting.

Gynecol Endocrinol. 2005 Feb;20(2):99-103.Click here to read Links
Sexual hormone serum levels and temporomandibular disorders. A preliminary study.
Landi N, Lombardi I, Manfredini D, Casarosa E, Biondi K, Gabbanini M, Bosco M.

Department of Neuroscience, Section of Prosthetic Dentistry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. n.landi@tin.it

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of sexual hormones in a young adult population affected by articular forms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), measuring 17beta-estradiol and progesterone serum levels. In the study, we included 40 patients (20 males and 20 females) with a Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) axis I group II diagnosis of disk displacement and/or group III diagnosis of arthralgia, osteoarthritis or osteoarhrosis, and 32 healthy controls. In female patients, blood samples were collected in follicular and luteal phases of the same menstrual cycle, while only one blood sample was drawn in male patients. Serum levels of estradiol and progesterone were determined using a radioimmunoassay and the comparison between the two groups was performed using a t test. Regarding estradiol, our results showed significantly higher serum levels in patients affected by TMD than in healthy controls, both in males (p < 0.01) and in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in females (p < 0.05), while no difference was found for progesterone serum levels. Considering the multifactorial etiology of TMD and the hypothesis that some joint tissues (e.g., bone, cartilage, collagen, proteins) could be a target for sexual hormones, these data suggest that high serum estrogen levels might be implicated in the physiopathology of TMD.

(((((((((enough))))))))

sorry that this continues to be a problem for you. i wish i had other suggestions than what i posted at some other points. i think if i hadn't been able to afford a bite guard a few years ago, i would have surely cracked some teeth by now (my dentist charged $500). the other thing that has helped, & i know that the use is controversial due to the addictive potential, is using a low dose of ativan at night at those times that my body is flipping out on me (usually corresponds to times when the insomnia is flaring). i no longer get the ear, etc pain & i know that i am lucky in that respect. it was much worse for me as far as the tmj in puberty. the teeth grinding has been much worse in peri.

gazelle, thanks for posting that. when i started grinding my teeth, i thought it was part of this hormonal hooey. i would not have thought that if i hadn't had problems in puberty. but it eventually went away then w/no treatment/intervention & has only resurfaced since this less than merry ride kicked into higher gear.

good luck.
hugs, xo, ep

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think one of these days I will try xanax at night and see if I am sleeping better without clenching. I also plan on acupucture once I am working steady again. I cannot wait for that to happen. I hope it's soon.

good luck to you all too.

Dear OP-

I was diagnosed with anterior displacement with reduction (TMJ on left side) in June. I went to a number of doctors over the span of a year not knowing what was causing my headaches/ear pain.

I finally went to go see a specialist and he wants to cure me to the tune of $2900. Although we have excellent insurance, for some reason mouth pieces are not covered.

I feel your pain, I really do.

As far as where to get the mouth pieces- head over to the sporting goods dept in Wal-Mart and pick you up a mouth guard for $1.00. You boil it, cool it for 30 seconds, then put it in your mouth and bite down. DEon't get the one for $30 in the toothpaste section.

My vision is the most compromised b/c of this TMJ situation on my left side. PM me if you have any questions. I can give you a link for a REALLY good forum for all your questions.

-Ginny