TMJ pain

vulpini · January 2016

Anyone dealing with this? I've had fairly mild issues with mine for years, but the last three days I've had lingering mild to medium pain that radiates from the joint to my head, sinuses, and teeth on one side. Today it hurt to the point of tears and Tylenol did nothing.

My dentist said it's definitely the joint - no issues with my teeth or gums. He said pregnancy can make it worse and it could also be my sinuses making it worse, since I had a sinus infection (but on the other side) a month ago and everyone tells me I still sound congested, even though I've felt fine for weeks.

He couldn't recommend anything other than Tylenol, hot and cold packs, Benadryl for congestion, and minimize stress (yeah, that works when I'm waiting on Harmony results).

Anyone have TMJ pain too? What helps yours?

mrsb8244 · January 2016

I've been dealing with this since before getting pregnant, too. My dentist said my jaw is partially dislocated. Every time I open my mouth all the way it pops and is painful. Sometimes it gets locked up and won't open all the way. Unfortunately I haven't found anything to help but if you (or someone else) finds something I would love to know!!

KaylaR628 · January 2016

I was having terrible TMJ pain and popping before I was pregnant and my dentist recommended a mouth guard for night use. My pain is from clenching my jaw at night, so not sure if it would work for everyone, but I just bought one of those hideous sports mouth guards from Walmart and wore it at night. It helped, not right away but after a while, though it's kind of gross and I absolutely couldn't stomach it with my morning sickness.

TwoBadMice · January 2016

My sister also deals with this, there is actually an essential oil blend that is supposed to help. I haven't tried it
On her yet. Young Living brand has an oil called Valor that everyone swears by for TMJ, you apply it across your jaw line.

purplefan1 · January 2016

Yes, same as PP. Mine is mostly from clenching and grinding at night, which I've found is worse for me during pregnancy. You can get a cheap, moldable mouth guard from any store and use it. The ones from the dentist cost a ton and do the same thing as the cheap one.

vulpini · January 2016

Thanks ladies. He mentioned a mouth guard and referral to a TMJ specialist if I was still hurting a week from now. Not sure why he wants to wait.

matthewsdm · January 2016

TwoBadMice said:

My sister also deals with this, there is actually an essential oil blend that is supposed to help. I haven't tried it On her yet. Young Living brand has an oil called Valor that everyone swears by for TMJ, you apply it across your jaw line.

I have mild TMJ too and it seems to have been bothering me more during pregnancy. I use Valor on mine and it helps!

Rosehip15 · January 2016

I also use a bite guard. You can try cheapie ones that you mold yourself. They're effective, but very bulky in the mouth. I did use them at first. Now I have one that I ordered via a kit from Amazon. It cost about $70 (as opposed to a couple hundred from the dentist) and does the same thing, but is much less bulky & annoying. It's not quite as thin & low profile as the one my DH had made by a dentist, but good enough. If I sleep without it, I wake up very achy.

CourtJack · January 2016

I don't, but a friend of mine suffered from this during and after her last pregnancy. She was referred to a pelvic floor physiotherapist. Apparently there can be a correlation between the muscles, ligaments down there and TMJ. I have absolutely no evidence to back that up aside from her story though - but something to consider?

peregrinefalconx · January 2016

I've had TMJ for 25 years, since I was 16. Jaw locked shut. It was awful. I invested several years ago in a very expensive mouthpiece. You likely don't need that, but you can talk to your dentist about having plates made and I think there are OTC options as well. I will say that for the first time in a very long time, my TMJ has been acting up in the last week, even with the piece. A chiropractor may be able to help with the clicking and you can google jaw exercises that can loosen you up, as well as good self massage options.

on3in2015 · January 2016

I have had TMJ since I was about 11 years old. I tried physical therapy and had minor surgeries to clean out the joint, pain meds, many mouth guards, and botox injected into the joint (Seriously don't ever do that, it was terrible. I could not smile normally for the longest time.)
Seeing a chiropractor and getting massages are really the only things that have ever been helpful at all.

alysemci · January 2016

Yes I get this! But it didn't seem to worsen with pregnancy. I don't eat anything that's tough to chew when it acts up and be careful of my sleeping position as that has aggravated it as well

SoEnamored · January 2016

Ive done acupuncture for TMJ and it's worked wonders.

vulpini · January 2016

Thanks for the advice ladies. Turns out I ended up with a clogged sinus that was making it worse by adding pressure, so I'm dealing with that and waiting for an appointment with a TMJ specialist to discuss the joint itself.

KayDray15 · January 2016

Facial massage worked wonders for my TMJ. Last year it had gotten to a point where I couldn't eat solid food. Terrible pain. The big problem was that my masseter muscle had become so tight that it was pushing the joint out of place, which in turn made the muscle even tighter. Once I got that to calm down the pain, clicking, popping, and locking all went away. I have been pain free with no medications for about 9 months. The TMJ specialist wanted to do a surgery and all this other crazy stuff. Glad I didn't listen to that!

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