TMJD grinding my jaw with stress!

[sweetkitty]

Anyone else do this? It’s not grinding my teeth but I bite down hard on my jaw, I must do at night and I also do it during them day subconsciously until I remind myself not to. I wake in the morning in agony (I have fibromyalgia so it’s one of my usual aches) have to take painkillers.

It’s stress I can trace it from my jaw, head, back of head, neck, shoulders, shoulder blades and upper back. Whole body is tensed up. I have a mouth guard from the dentist it doesn’t help I just bite down on it instead. I saw a private consultant during covid who said there’s no underlying health conditions it’s TMJD. I can’t eat certain foods like hard crusty bread or I eat tiny pieces as chewing hurts. I’ve been told to limit chewing.

Unless your dentist tells you that's its personally not a good idea for you, I'd look at botox into the masseter muscle. Dentists offer it.

The consultant said no funnily enough when I asked 🙁 when I touch my cheek I think it the masseter muscle it’s very sore both sides.

Ask your dentist for a mouth guard. I grind my teeth badly and if I sleep without mine I wake up with a massive headache. It's not good for your jawbone either as teeth grinding wears the jawbone

Try block booking some massages with a good, trained, masseuse, including a head a massage. Really helps.

@Mars27 i have a mouthguard!! I just chomp down on it and it’s actually worse. I don’t do much as grind but I bite down and clench my jaw.

Could you ask dentist for a referral to your nearest dental hospital? You could also ask your dentist to make you a harder mouth guard although they seem to be more expensive.

I have the same issue. Clench my teeth constantly to the point where it’s affecting my jaw muscles quite badly. The mouth guard did nothing for me and I ended up chewing it, couldn’t afford the harder one 🙁. Now been referred to the dental hospital for further investigation.

You have my sympathy OP.

Following with interest. Same issue here. The inside of my cheeks are always bitten, have bitten through a mouth guard and the odd occasion I wake up and my tongue is in between the clenched teeth. Sympathising with all. It's horrible.

Are you taking any ADs? This is a very usual secondary effect in people who use Prozac. Changing to another medication will sort it.

Some things that have helped me:
-massage therapist who specializes in TMJD
-physiotherapist with specialty of TMJ (taught me self massage and exercises to strengthen my jaw)
-this device that I lie down and rest my head/neck on that I bought on Amazon that releases tension when I’m in between massages - am having trouble finding the exact one but if you search there for TMJ there are lots of products you might consider

@MonsterRehab23 When I spoke to my dentist during covid he said there was a years wait at least for the dental hospital that’s why I went private. The private consultant recommended upping my citalopram to the maximum dose and the mouthguard. If I wear the mouthguard it makes the pain worse as I just chimp the mouthguard.

I think massage might be the way to go then I’ve tried osteopaths/chiropractors for the tight muscles in my head and neck before with limited success.

I'd try Botox. Go to a proper medical practitioner though and not an aesthetician.

https://www.pearldentalclinic.co.uk/nti-device.html

you need an NTI brace, rather than a trad guard. you can’t bite down whilst wearing it.

& Botox to reduce the size of the masseter muscle.

I found beta blockers surprisingly effective.

I do this, I wake up with a tight jaw in the morning. I found face yoga helps, plus massaging my face with oil - if it goes red, put cold water on and it dampens any inflammation. When you massage tight muscles and you get a red flush, it's the release of the waste products (lactic acid) from your muscles causing a brief histamine reaction. Imagining my muscles relaxing before bed helps, like a brief body scan meditation. I literally "sleep tight" otherwise. Yours sounds like mine where it's linked to tight muscles in my neck, back, arms.

I find meditation helps - I do guided ones as I have no attention span, esp the body scan ones where you are relaxing your muscles. Massage with an LCSP therapist has helped with muscle/back issues and might help with fibromyalgia if muscular issues are the cause of the problem https://lcsp.uk.com/remedial-massage/. What I have found from over 20 years of issues is that there isn't one answer to anything, each small thing is like a piece of a puzzle and always having to search for the next bit that will make things a little better.

I find a hypnosis recording helps. I haven't stuck with it long enough to be sure it makes a massive difference but it seems to help when I do use it. I can't remember where I got it from. It was pretty cheap. It's called stop teeth grinding by Rachael Eccles. I put it on to my phone and listen to it before I go to sleep. I rarely make it to the end to be honest(not sure if I fall asleep or go 'under'). I don't suffer severely with pain though. Just a bit of jaw ache now and then.

I’m having similar problems- I’ve upped my amitriptyline as I’ve had a flare up of trigeminal neuralgia. Can’t work out if nerves, teeth or TMJ. Let’s just say I cannot open my jaw very wide on the right hand side. Can’t chew on it either

Saw the GP recently she’s given me Naproxen a low dose NSAID to help with the inflammation oh and gabapentin I’ve to start it very slowly to try and reduce side-effects as pregabalin gave me double vision.