I don’t feel that my symptoms completely fit TMJ disorder, but I could be wrong. I don’t have jaw pain or stiffness, can open my mouth normally, no clicking noises and I can eat normally. What I struggle with is pain in and around the fleshy part of my ear. When I move my jaw, I can feel my ear canal, like it feels tight. There is a tightness and pressure underneath the fleshy part of where my ear meets my head and if I press on it, it’s really tender. I have radiating pain from the top of where my ear is connected to my head, this goes a way up and also into my cheekbone, where it feels like someone is pushing their foot on my head/face. If I smile, the area feels tight, like it’s pulling, same if I turn my head away and this feeling is always there (other symptoms are intermittent).
It started 18 months ago with ear fullness and pain and swelling behind and in front of my ear. I was diagnosed with cellulitis and it took 4 courses of antibiotics to get the swelling under control. Since then, the ear/head/face pain has remained and appears to be getting worse. I do have a history of ear problems and did have an operation on the same ear last summer, but I am being told that this is not connected and that it’s ‘probably’ TMJ disorder (this was by my ENT surgeon) because as far as they are concerned, my ear is healthy (even though I’ve had no tests or examinations to prove this since my operation)?
I have been told by my dentist that I grind my teeth so have a custom hard plastic nightguard that I’ve been wearing now for a year, every night without fail. When I told her that I am getting a pressure feeling in some of my teeth at times (like something is stuck between them), she just told me to wear my nightguard in the mornings too (so no help from her). I’ve also been feeling my top teeth sometimes hit my bottom teeth when talking and eating, which suggests an issue with my jaw but again, my dentist is not interested. I’ve booked in for a TMJ/myofacial massage next week to see if this helps as I am getting desperate now. Could this be TMJ disorder, if you have it are any of your symptoms the same?