[purple_kangaroo]

I've had an almost-constant headache on one side of my head for a month or two now, radiating from around my jaw, teeth and ear to the muscle in back where my spine joins my skull.

The last few days it's been so excruciating I can hardly stand it. I can't sleep or concentrate. Eating and talking make it worse. I've tried several different mouthguards and that only seems to make the pain worse. I tried icing and heat, relaxation, cod-liver oil, taking a muscle relaxant, Ibuprofen, and even Tylenol with Codeine and a sleeping medication. I almost never take any kind of medication, but right now I'm petty desparate.

Last night it was so bad I went to the Urgent Care Clinic. The doc said my jaw joint was badly inflamed and diagnosed me with TMJ. She gave me a topical anti-inflammatory and also an oral one.

So far nothing seems to help. I find myself pacing, groaning, writhing, crying, and contemplating asking someone to knock me out or remove my jaw. I seriously thought about going to the emergency room and asking them to give me something that woud make me unconscious.

I also have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and tend to have joint hypermobility. And I tend to clench my teeth when I'm in pain. So developing TMJ would be no surprise, especially since I also had braces as a teen.

I read some old posts and will ty to find some magnesium citrate to take. But what can I do right now to help the pain? I just need something to give me some relief.

Also, I'm supposed to have a dental cleaning this afternoon. Will that just make it worse, or should I go ahead and do it? This head pain thing started or worsened after getting some composite fillings done in my back teeth, I think. One of those teeth as been sensitive ever since. I also need some more fillings done and am wondering if that's contributing to the pain.

 

[tanyalynn]

It sounds like part of this could be that you need to have the composite ground down more. When composites are put in, the top surface needs to be just right so that the bite is right. Could your dentist do that today? Tell them you're in pain since then, and please, instead of a cleaning, could they look at your bite? Though I don't think it should take a long time--when I got my amalgams out

: and composites put in, it wasn't a lot of work at the end to adjust my bite.

No better ideas than you've already got on the immediate pain relief. Sorry.

 

[milkybean]

I was going to urge you to get to gentle chiropractor (who will take upper cervical spine xrays) and also possibly to a cranio sacral therapy person. And those still would likely help.

But then I got here:

Quote:

This head pain thing started or worsened after getting some composite fillings done in my back teeth, I think. One of those teeth as been sensitive ever since. I also need some more fillings done and am wondering if that's contributing to the pain.

What if your tooth wasn't cleaned well before the fillings, and there's infection in there??? Or perhaps you need a root canal.

Tell your dentist these problems. Ask him/her to look beyond TMJ (dentists sometimes like to try to help with TMJ but I prefer chiro and CST for that) and into the teeth itself.

 

[canadianchick]

I have developed TMJ from a car accident a couple years ago. I see my chiropractor about once every 3-4 weeks and he fixes me right up.

 

[babygrant]

I have TMJ (have had it since I got my wisdom teeth pulled back in '99). I had severe pain until earlier this year when I saw a physiotherapist, and after about 6 treatments, i'm fine!

 

[jassyp101]

I treat TMJ everyday in my practice. Find an acupuncturist and go right away. You will get some immediate relief and with some consistent treatment, your TMJ will be a thing of the past. To find a licensed acupuncturist in your area, go to www.nccaom.org and click on "find a practitioner". I hope you feel better soon.

Definitely start taking magnesium to bowel tolerance and keep up with the fish oils.

 

[WuWei]

Try some magnesium, it has a muscle relaxant effect and helps with TMJ. http://ezinearticles.com/?TMJ-Pain-R...TMJ&id=1807334
http://ehealthforum.com/health/topic23300.html
http://www.ctds.info/tmj.html#tmj_treatment

Pat

 

[sarahkristin]

A little late on the draw here, but I wanted to share my opinion. I have been dealing with TMJD for 6 years now. I wear a retainer every night to bed. I am a clencher and if I do not wear my retainer to bed, I wake up with very sore teeth. I see a TMJ specialist. The things he has told me that really help me are:

Stretches. Open your mouth as wide as you can. Hold for 5 seconds and close. Repeat 3 or 4 times. Do this a few times a day.

Moist heat. I use a product called a Bed Buddy. It is basically a sock filled with rice that you can microwave. Apply it to your neck for 20 minutes and then to your jaw joint muscles for 20 minutes when you need it.

Massages. Give yourself a face massage. Find the areas that are tender and gently massage with your finger tips. Jaw joint, temples, cheek bones. There are also areas in your mouth that you can massage with clean hands (top corners right above your molars, on the side of the tooth closest to the cheek.) Also, neck, shoulder, and head massages REALLY helped me.

Flexible ice pack. Pretty self explanatory, but works best after a moist heat session.

Ibuprofen. I am really against taking pain medicine, but my TMJ doc told me that at the first sign of a TMJ headache, take some Ibuprofen. It won't stop the pain, but it'll prevent it from getting worse. He says that the reason for this is because it'll stop the muscles from tightening more, but it won't get them to relax.

My retainer saved my sanity. I HAAAAATE wearing it because it makes me talk funny, but it really is what makes life bearable now. It goes on my top jaw, is hard plastic, and is grooved on the bottom so my teeth fit right where they need to be.

If anyone needs a good TMJ doctor recommendation and lives in the Houston area, PM me and I'll send you his contact info. I can also ask him if he knows any doctors like him in your area or who he'd recommend.

 

[reeseccup]

I'd second the chiropractor, if you can find one that does the Pro-adjuster, that would be even better.

 

[zoe196]

another vote for craniosacral therapy. Find a graduate of the Milne Institute if you can-- they really focus on TMJ problems as part of training.

wishing you relief and healing!

Zoe, mama to Thomas 1/06

 

[purple_kangaroo]

Thank you all so much. I started wearing a bite guard every night, and that helped a lot, but getting adjusted by a chiropractor helped AMAZINGLY. I couldn't believe the difference, and it was immediate. My bite meshes so much better now, too.

I'm also planning to get a Bowen treatment, which I think is similar to cranial-sacral, but the pain level is very very low now.

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. I really appreciate it.