Does anybody here suffer from TMD (also known as TMJD)

[Fxckingpain]

Sorry I know it's not an AIBU, the health boards are quiet and I'm desperate

I've had this for well over a year now and suffer on a daily basis. My diagnosis is acute myofascial TMD, and I also have a 'disc issue' on one side, whatever that means.

I've tried:
Silicone dental guard perscribed by dentist
Voltarol
Ibuprofen
And I'm currently on a prescription for baclofen

I was due to have physiotherapy and acupuncture through Guys hospital but since coronavirus all non essential appointments were cancelled and I've no idea when they'll be able to see me or if I'll be seen this year at all.

Does anybody have any experience of this condition and is able to share what helped bring some relief? I'm getting desperate, the chronic pain is relentless.

My face hurts, my ears, my temples, I have constant tension headaches at the base of my skull, sporadic tinnitus and vertigo.

[Mrsmorton]

I used to be a dentist and I have this.

[CalmYoBadSelf]

I had this but, luckily, it is now fairly settled and just flares if I am unwell or stressed
Mine began with a niggling toothache that could not be placed. After various dental interventions it just got worse and I had constant pain for about 3-4 months. Dentist was useless and ultimately made it a lot worse than it could have been but, luckily, GP was more sympathetic and, although he was not sure of the problem, he kept chasing and rang a dentist friend of his who recommended a maxfac specialist who diagnosed it and recommended a change of dentist. It was astounding the difference the new dentist and her knowledge made.
I had nortriptyline, painkillers and a block thing to clip on my front teeth each night until it settled
I am now almost 10 years on and most days don't even think about it

[Davincitoad]

@PeasInAPot it really isn’t

I worked it out years ago from google

[Davincitoad]

I get pain from under my earlobe, the whole side swells up, up my temple and I can’t touch my eyebrow it becomes that painful.

[Fxckingpain]

I've noticed my tongue is always pressed against the roof of my mouth by default. It may well be that I'm a constant clencher, I have just never noticed.

I'm going to make a conscious effort to relax my jaw and I'll look into some exercises.

It manifests itself in different ways on different days. Today is a particularly bad one and I have bad pain on both sides of my cheeks, pressure around my eyes and a very stiff neck with a tension headache at the base of my skull.

I feel the constant need to stretch my neck (which clicks like no tomorrow) because the muscles are just so tight and uncomfortable.

The more I learn about TMJD the more surprised I am at just how much it can affect you in multiple ways.

[DieSchottin93]

My ex has this after a botched filling a few years ago. I know he went to a dental hospital in Mexico at the start of the year unfortunately we weren't really speaking by then but I think he had some.of his back teeth removed, when I last spoke to him (albeit briefly) he said it had improved the pain a bit.

[DoTheNextRightThing]

I do! Mine is chronic but it comes and goes. It's caused by anxiety mostly, I carry a lot of tension in my face, clench my teeth in my sleep, and chew my lips every waking moment which puts excessive strain on my jaw. I know how painful it is so I completely sympathise.

I don’t really have any miracle cures. I use a lot of ice, painkillers, head massages, and I'm planning to get a mouth guard for sleeping to stop me clenching.

Sorry I'm not more help, but just wanted you to know you're not alone

[DailyFailstinks]

I’ve had it for around 10 years. It’s manageable now. I had a mouthguard made my a specialist dentist - cost around £600 but was worth every penny. The other things that helped were: soft diet, physio and cutting out caffeine (it makes muscles tense). Good luck!

[AllAussieAdventures]

6 monthly botox injections into yhe masseter muscles.

Heavy duty guard at night and always trying to keep my jaw relaxed and my teeth apart when awake.

I actually take a migraine med Sumitriptan for any flare ups which works. Also paracetamol/codeine.

[YoungsterIwish]

Google trigger point therapy for tmd. There are specific trigger points you can massage yourself and that gives some people relief.

"The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook"
Book by Clair Davies is one point that explains how in detail.

[Fxckingpain]

This is probably a bit TMI, but whenever I belch or yawn i get a sharp horrid pain in my ears.

I'm making a list of these suggestions you've all been kind enough to give me, thank you so much. I can't tell you how good it is to speak to people who get it. My DH must think I'm a hypochondriac.

I've also joined some Facebook groups as reccomend on the other page!

[DoTheNextRightThing]

Also just to say I wasn't diagnosed by a dentist, it was my GP who suggested I had it just from my description of the pain. There's no evidence of damage to my teeth, but when I wake up my jaw is always clenched. I don’t seem to be grinding the teeth though so the dentist doesn't realise.

[RainbowHash]

I had it for just over a year. For me it was stress and it very slowly just started getting better on its own. I had to consciously touch my jaw to remind myself to relax it, and as someone else said earlier, consciously keep my mouth slightly open / drop the jaw. Hope it starts to get better soon.

[Threeflyingducks]

Op I think a lot of this has already been covered by other posters, but I had TMJ that I I thought started out as earache but was later diagnosed as TMJ as the pain spread. I found a dental shield didn't help that much because while they protect your teeth they don't stop you clenching your jaw in your sleep and that is what was causing mine!
I also suffer from tension headaches frequently and these run in the family, apparently some people are just more prone to them.

What's helped for me is using wheat bags (the ones you heat up in the microwave) on my shoulders, neck and jaw regularly to help relax the whole area, as well stretches for my upper back and shoulders, and using an orthopedic pillow. Those things together along with being more aware of when I'm tensing my face on the day and consciously trying to undo that habit have really helped, I've only had occasional flare ups since the original diagnosis.

Really hope things improve for you, I remember reading the NHS info and it said it was a disorder with mild pain that was easily managed, I felt like punching whoever wrote that!

[Brianmaysmagicfingers]

I had a bad flare up a few years ago. After months of pain on one side of my jaw - particularly first thing in the morning and yawning. God yawning was painful- I had to press my fingers into the joint to stop myself from crying from the pain. One morning my whole jaw just locked shut. Couldn’t open my mouth at all. A&E just gave me some wooden sticks to chew on. In the end the only thing that relived it was seeing a chiropractor. It seemed to come on after the top of my back/neck was really bad so the chiropractor sorted that and also did some releases to the inside of my mouth/jaw. It was eye watering but the relief after a few sessions was amazing. Thoroughly recommend seeing a chiropractor or osteopath to see if they can help.

[fumingbird]

I've had tmj for years, it has got better though, so there is hope. I think improving posture/relieving muscle tension is important.
I had a dental guard to wear at night, I now only use this occasionally. I avoid chewy sweets and gum, and limit caffeine.
I use a memory foam pillow which took some getting used to but definitely helped.
I still get flare ups around my period and terrible headache and neck ache but nothing like I used to.

[PeasInAPot]

@Davincitoad it really is

[Fxckingpain]

Lots of to all of you here who put up with it (or have done previously) because it really is so painful.

It means alot to me to know I'm not alone and that it can get better.

I'm a very anxious person so I'm sure that is a big contributor, I don't deal well with stress and I've had alot of that in recent years.

I'm currently taking 2 x baclofen at bed time because it's the only time I can tolerate the woozy side effects, the relief is minimal and only lasts a short while when I get up the next day.

If I tighten my belt then I can afford to pay privately for either botox, a chiropractor or an osteopath. It may be that I need to try all three over a period of time to see which works best for me.

I'm currently sat with a Hitachi wand against my cheek hoping the massage sensation will help enough to allow me to sleep, thank fuck DH isn't here

[Boopeedoop]

Try to get in the habit of putting the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. It relaxes the jaw and stops you clenching.

Facial massage can be soothing as the cheek muscles can go in to spasm.

I'd definitely recommend an osteopath. My daughter had significant improvement after her first session

[Boopeedoop]

Look up Bob And Brad on you tube they are physics that show specific massage exercises to give relief.

[ItsNotAGameOfSubbuteoMatthew]

The organisation you need to look for is British Society for Occlusal Studies. If the dentist is affiliated with that then they should be able to help.

[Wishihadanalgorithm]

I have bruxism and so have a lot of pain in my neck, back and occasionally jaw. I used to see a chirpractor before I knew what was causing the pain and that helped. I also wear a mouth guard and take amitriptyline every night too. The only thing that really helped with the clenching and grinding was hypnotherapy but for various (boring) reasons I had to stop.

I have also had Botox in my jaw several times - this did nothing.

I’ve had xrays and nothing was found, I have been told to take ibuprofen but That doesn’t touch the pain when it is bad. The best thing is to do various exercises which my chiropractor gave me but they don’t relieve the pain there and then. For best pain relief I use codeine and rub in cold gels. Massage can help too.

The doctor at the hospital said I have over-developed jaw muscles. That was not nice to hear!

[whichteaareyou]

You can get Botox to relax the muscles it's very effective!

[whichteaareyou]

Also I used to tell patients to wear their mouth guard when they were working as that's when people clench their teeth without even realising! I also used to recommend wearing it to the gym if you were lifting weights as you clench then as well! And all through the night while you sleep but I do appreciate that they're not the comfiest of things!

[LakieLady]

I'm a jaw clencher and I suffered for years. In the end, I tried acupuncture which worked a treat.

I still clench, but I'm more aware when I'm doing it and find that gently massaging the side of my face eases the pain if it starts.