Anyone Have TMJ??

Temporomandibular joint is the jaw joint and is frequently referred to as TMJ. There are two TMJs, one on either side, working in unison. The name is derived from the two bones which form the joint: the upper temporal bone which is part of the cranium (skull), and the the lower jaw bone called the mandible. The unique feature of the TMJs is the articular disk. The disk is composed of fibrous tissue (like the firm but flexible cartilage of the ear) which is positioned between the two bones that form the joint. The TMJs are the only synovial joints in the human body with an articular disk. The disk divides each joint into two. The lower joint compartment formed by the mandible and the articular disk is involved in rotational movement (opening and closing movements). The upper joint compartment formed by the articular disk and the temporal bone is involved in translational movements (sliding the lower jaw forward or side to side). The part of the mandible which mates to the under-surface of the disk is the condyle and the part of the temporal bone which mates to the upper surface of the disk is the glenoid (or mandibular) fossa.

Pain or dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint is commonly referred to as "TMJ", when in fact, TMJ is really the name of the joint, and Temporomandibular joint disorder (or dysfunction) is abbreviated TMD . This term is used to refer to a group of problems involving the TMJs and the muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessles, and other tissues associated with them. Some practitioners might include the neck, the back and even the whole body in describing problems with the TMJs.





anyone have it? if you do, what do you do about it? i cant seem to find relief, and i HATE HATE AHTE dentists, and dont have dental insurance, cant afford it.

I don't have it. I have a friend that does though. She can't chew gum or anything like that. When she eats, you can hear her jaw pop with every chew! Sounds painful!!

My mom has TMJ and has suffered with it horribly for years.

She seems to have had it under control for the past couple of years, I think it mainly has to do with stress for her...it acts up really bad when she is over-stressed.

Ouch. Well hon, if you don't like dentists & don't have insurance I don't know what to tell you. I thank God every day that my parents had the fabulous insurance to cover my treatment for TMJ.

How bad is yours right now? Mine got progressively worse over a year and a half until it got to the point my jaw was locking. Couldn't get around it at that point. Had to have an "appliance" (basically a plastic retainer to train your bite) and weekly adjustments for about six months.

If it's just localized muscle pain, massage therapy might help. Stress tends to manifest in the jaw frequently, so anything that helps reduce your stress level should help.

Feel free to pm me, I'll tell ya all about my treatment (and cure!) Good Luck!

I have it. It used to be really bad and give me AWEFUL ear aches (because of where the joints meet). My ENT sent me to a dentist that specialized in TMD (it's actually called TMD i think- everyone has tmj- the joint that connects your skull/jaw ) The dentist i saw was awesome- he made me a little mouthpiece to sleep in at night -and it has REALLY helped!!! (i used to have a lot of issues with my jaw getting really sore and my ears constantly hurting - my tmd was aggervated by the fact that i was a music major for a long while - singing was my main area of focus- so constantly singing aggervated the muscles in my jaw/mouth area.) When the joints get aggervated - it puts a ton of pressure on my ears and it is really painful (i have some ear issues anyways, but the tmd makes it worse)

Ask about getting a nightguard/mouth piece to help it! It really works!!! Lay off the gum though if you chew it as well as really chewy candies- it will make it worse! Try hard candies instead.

When i sleep in my mouthpiece every night - i don't have any issues. But if i skip it a day or two i start to get a nasty headache and me ears/jaw start to hurt. definitely ask about the mouthpiece though- mine has really helped me

yes, stress is s HUGE trigger for me. Right now its clicking, and if i press on my left side of the jaw, it clicks into place. but it DOES hurt. i use Motrin IB and i notice if i use it every 4-6 hours, im good during a flairup, but otherwise i just deal with it.


I just hate dentists cause of when i had braces, i had a dentist that was all to happy to OVER tighten ( this was 10 years ago) and i havent liked them since,lol.

Yes, I have it.I just deal with it.When it gets to be too much, I ice it....sometimes heat will help it too.
My Dr. told me to go to an oral surgeon for it.We don't have dental insurance either.And after Seth's hospital stay, we need to pay his stuff off first.

I used to have it, but it's not so bad anymore. My husband has it something fierce! He grinds his teeth a lot at night (mainly when he's stressed) and it creates a lot of pain and jaw clicking. I carry the health/dental insurance for both of us, however unfortunately my plan doesn't cover TMJ treatment (that is common with many dental plans).

Anyway, back to my point. You can actually buy night guards over-the-counter (it's something you stick in your mouth to prevent yourself from grinding your teeth at night...grinding is triggered by stress and the grinding creates the joint dysfunction). That's generally what a dentist will do for you, but the over-the-counter ones are hundreds of dollars cheaper (I think my parents had to pay about $500 out of pocket for mine when I was a kid).

http://www.drugstore.com/products/pr...-PLST-0-SEARCH

Yep I have it also. Started when I had my wisdom teeth removed.
I use advil and avoid eating hard food. I went to the doctor once b/c it was so bad and they prescribed stronger advil and antibiotics. I guess I just learned to live with it.

I have it, my jaw would occasionally lock shut (thankfully not open!) My jaw clicks loudly when I chew and stuff. I stopped chewig gum for the most part. Sometimes just a few chews for the flavour then I spit it out. I had my wisdom teeth removed as the first step in trying to correct the TMJ. Plus I needed that done anyway cuz my teeth were screwed up. Then they gave me this plastic thing to wear when I sleep (sort of like a mouthguard in sports). Someday I will start wearing it to clear up the problem but for now, it is just sitting in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom

Originally Posted by Jen

I have it, my jaw would occasionally lock shut (thankfully not open!) My jaw clicks loudly when I chew and stuff. I stopped chewig gum for the most part. Sometimes just a few chews for the flavour then I spit it out. I had my wisdom teeth removed as the first step in trying to correct the TMJ. Plus I needed that done anyway cuz my teeth were screwed up. Then they gave me this plastic thing to wear when I sleep (sort of like a mouthguard in sports). Someday I will start wearing it to clear up the problem but for now, it is just sitting in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom

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I too had my wisdom teeth out in an attempt to alleviate the problem -- six weeks later, my jaw locked OPEN while i was in the university's cafeteria. So then I had the appliance done up -- $450 (and that was 15 yrs ago!)

Jen, if your appliance was molded to your teeth, chances are it may not fit when you go back & decide to use it. I had mine made two months after I had my wisdoms out, and it fit fine for the 6 months I had it in 24/7, but once I stopped wearing it daily my teeth shifted and in two weeks it was painful to put in.

Yup, I'll raise my hand, I have this condition. I was fitted by an orthodontist who specialized in treating this, with a mouth piece that I was to wear as often as I could during the day but I couldn't stand it..it would relieve the incident (when having a flareup my jaw slides enough to one swide that the teeth on one side don't/can't touch and my bottom teeth jam up against my front, my bite goes off and it hurts to chew anything, no matter how soft.

However, the device caused my bite to shift in such a way that the teeth didn't touch in the back on either side..it slide my bottom jaw forward..no pain, but a bite that I couldn't stand or live with.

So....I haven't worn the device in years, and when I accidentally bite down wrong so that I get a crunch of pain on the one side that has never gotten back to normal (initially I was "off" on both sides), I simply eat soft foods, and take tylenol, warm compress to that side of the face...and it eases up.

It's been not a big deal, not as much as I feared it would be.

I have heard stories that led me to believe I'd never allow surgery to "fix' this, and that sometimes, for some, the treatment has been worse than dealing with the problem.

Originally Posted by Liza24

anyone have it? if you do, what do you do about it? i cant seem to find relief, and i HATE HATE AHTE dentists, and dont have dental insurance, cant afford it.

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Yup - sometimes my jaw even pops out of joint. I find that the only real help I can get is from my chiropracter. He does jaw adjustments....they hurt, but make you feel better in the long run.

Yep. It isn't as bad as it used to be. Getting my wisdom teeth out seems to have helped it some. I still can't chew gum or excessively. Chewing certain things 9pizza crusts and stuff like that) causes excessive popping and some soreness. I have learned to deal with it. Luckily I haven't had any lock jaw with it as of yet.

My jaw has locked open 3 times and it's extremely painful. Once in the dentist's and twice at home (those times I had to just wait for the muscle spasm to stop). Sometimes I get bouts of discomfort in the area and what I do is feel along the joint line until I feel a tender spot. I apply pressure and open and close my mouth until I get my jaw in a position that feels less tender. Then hold this for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes.

I also use a technique where I gently hold my mandible (lower jaw) and apply a downward traction slowly about 30-40 times. Both of these things relieve my pain significantly. There is no way in the wide world I would let anyone manipulate my jaw!!