3rd Trimester

tmj anyone?

anyone have signs of tmj. my sister has this so I knew what it was already. but I started to get these like jaw spasms almost like lock jaw. i see ob tomorrow so i will ask many questions....hope it goes away.

Re: tmj anyone?

  • I've had this for years, and it's gotten worse during my pregnancy, esp. the past few weeks as my sleep has been more interrupted. Mine is treated by my dentist. It's possible yours will go away after you deliver...Treatment usually includes wearing a special fitting plastic night guard. My night guard hasn't helped much in the past few weeks. The night guard is also not covered by my insurance, which sucks because I have really good insurance. Luckily they don't need to be replaced often.

    You can take some Tylenol during the day if you have jaw pain, or Ty. PM at night which may help relax your jaw muscles. Good luck!

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  • I have had TMJ for years and yes, it has gotten a little worse these past few weeks.  The only time I had it this bad was when I had a very, very stressful job and I would actually wake my husband up from the grinding.  Usually, it's just an occasional locking feeling I get while yawning or chewing.

    The pp gave you some great tips.  I'm managing it right now with the tylenol pm.  It hasn't gotten bad enough to bring out the mouth guard.

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  • thanks, i never had anything like this before. at first i thought i was having a sinus infection or headache. i was puffy above eyes, my ears hurt and jaw. my ears have been kinda clogged lately and the weather has been warm, than cold, than warm so all of these things made me think sinus. but all of a sudden my jaw started to tremor and i remembered my sister has this and i read it happens somewhere around 34 weeks pg...and i am just over 35.

    i am going to take your advice with the tylenol...sure it cant hurt. and i am a terrible sleeper lately too. like 3-4 hours a night!!

  • TMJ is where the joint in your jaw doesn't fit properly in the bone.  It is usually associated with locking, clicking when you open your mouth, inability to open your mouth completely, etc. 

    If you just have pain, but you don't have any of the above symptoms, it's pretty unlikely that you have TMJ.  Your jaw could tremble and be tired for a number of reasons (like grinding your teeth at night) that don't indicate TMJ.  You need to be seen by a dentist to figure it out.  I hope it's not TMJ, because TMJ can be progressive and generally there aren't good treatments outside of surgery.  (I've had it for years)

  • I've had it for years, but it's been worse in the past couple years. It always pops and a couple times a year it goes out of socket and locks that way. I talked to my dentist about it the first time it went out of socket and locked that way before I got pregnant with this baby and she sent me to a chiropractor. It took a few days of being adjusted, but it went back in. It has happened one other time since then and between tylenol and seeing the chiro I was able to keep it from getting as severe as the first time. I have to be careful how I sleep since you can put a lot of pressure on your jaw when you sleep on your side. I don't eat apples or anything else hard to bite into/chew unless I cut them in to bite sized pieces. I had to give up chewing gumCrying

     You can alternate 20 minutes of cold and 20 minutes of heat, plus take tylenol to help your jaw relax enough to ease back into place.

  • I have TMJ, but whenever I'm pregnant, my jaw issues become more severe in regards to misalignment. My doctor told me this is due to the surge of relaxin in our bodies and other hormones that help to loosen up our joints and ligaments for the birthing process: it can affect all joints in the body. Just today I was chewing on a slice of cheese, and *CRACK*! My mom looked at me and was like, "What was that?!" Man does that hurt!
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