Apparently through a series of questions and ofcourse feeling around my face, the GP beleives I have TMJ,and not TN.

I don't know alot about TMJ still researching now, but it's a problem that seems to be associated with the myriad of other problems I seem to present with MCS,Fibro, etc..

This is yet another painful condition,and worst of all it's in my Face! Does anyone else have TMJ that I can communicate with?

Thank you

Hi Hon:

Meet your new best friend. I've had TMJ for years. Started with my grinding my teeth since I'm a baby. My aunt once said "Oh my god, the noise that comes out of your mouth, when you sleep at night". Of course I had no idea what the heck she was talking about.

I can't open my mouth too wide. I never know when it's going to "hit me".

I can completely forget it, I can do a big yawn, (oh, my jaw doesn't lock or remain open, it just has these clicking sounds). A dentist even told me the exact name of this noise when the clicking occurs, but darn, if I can remember it.

The hinge under my ear, well it gets sore, once in a great while. As long as I don't open my mouth too wide, (I don't ever do this).

I get a TMJ (that's what I call it), once in a great while when I bite down on something and I haven't been paying attention to how I bite down on something, well, believe me, it gets your attention. It's like a lightening bolt of pain near your ears.

I just rub it, and apply warm compresses whenever this happens.

You can also get one of those night guards that you place into your mouth (either by prescription), or get a cheap one that you place in hot water, place it in your mouth and you mold it to your teeth, and it hardens and you sleep with it at night.

If I could remember to do that, I'd do it, but I know me, if I don't use my sleep apnea machine, I'm not going to be putting any night-time mouth guards in.

So just use warm compresses, and don't open your mouth too wide.

Also, when you next see your dentist, tell him what happened. He'll advise you better than me.

Take care,
Melody

Sounds real nasty, i would push for more investigation like a MRI or CT scan of your Cervical spine and whatever else is appropriate to sort this out.
good luck, i hope it goes away too.

Brian

I am long overdue for another scan.i have big problems with my C-spine, I already know I do.

The TMJ started along time ago with teeth grinding,and clenching my jaw. But it was still in the begnine stage.

Then as I said I was driving to the doctor that morning in heavy traffic,and I got a jolt near my ear.I was afraid to turn my head. It then was giving me shooting pains down the bottom of teeth. My scalp was also hurting. Now it's in both ears, and the entie joint area is affected,and my jaw hurts to open.
I have been sleeping with a hot water bottel on my jaw.

I knew it could only be a few things. Trigminal neuralgia,TMJ, or temporal arteritis. All 3 have some similar traits. But he did not even consider temporal arteritis. He said no to TN, since it's on both sides of jaw,very close to ears,and in scalp muscles,and also very sore jaw joints he said it has to be TMJ. Since I knew I had bruxism, I accepted the diagnoisis,but never thought bruxism could lead to such horror pains. My face really hurts and now I have to find activities that do not rquire the use of my mouth or jaw such as talking & eating,and the like until this settles down one day.

I understand that it's a very misunderstood condition too,as i read the TMJ forum, people are on that forum saying that it has ruined there lives and it's the most painful condition. When you get the shooting pain it feels like someone is trying to rip your jaw joint out so I totally understand. I apparently have at least a moderate case so far as I have pretty severe acute pain,and shooting pains. Who knows for sure but,it may even be TN to some extent. How perfect things can be.

My son uses one of those night guards,but i would check with a dentist.
Mel is right don't open mouth wide... Sue

Are you swollen on both sides? And if you are, where is it swollen.

Billye

Hi Aussie99,

I have had TMJ for several years now. My latest dentist - a couple of years ago made me a prosthetic occlusal splint to wear while asleep, made of a firm silicone substance. It was quite expensive but I got a lot back from Medibank Private Extras.

The splint made an incredible difference to the TMJ pain and even the clicking jaws. In fact the pain completely stopped after using the splint. It was only about three months ago that I got slack in using the splint and only yesterday I thought I must rehydrate the splint and start wearing it again as I'm feeling more discomfort each morning when I wake. So your post is a timely reminder!

However if you can get a prosthesis tailor made for you (is the best) I'm sure you will notice a huge improvement. At least that is probably better than TN for which there may be no effective treatment!

Just like there is no one on earth who could not understand neuropathy, unless they experience it for themselves, believe me, when TMJ hits you, there is no way to explain it.

It's like someone punches you in the side of your head by your ear. Your head hurts, your ear hurts, your jaw aches. Sure, it subsides, but when it hits you, boy it hits you.

Been there, done that. Don't want to do that any more.

The trouble is, you never know when it's going to hit you.

I watched a Discovery Channel show one day (years and years ago), like 15 years, so hopefully they have invented new techniques to battle this condition.

Well, this poor girl (she was 30 or so), she had this TMJ problem. They operated on her and it made her worse. It made it SO MUCH WORSE, that she couldn't even get out of bed or comb her hair. It practically destroyed her marriage. She was on so many pain killers, and I remember the narrator explaining that "there is nothing they can do for this woman, this condition is permanent". And the poor girl was trying to comb her hair and even the putting the comb through her hair was setting off the TMJ. I never forgot that program. I remember saying "Oh my god, this didn't have to happen, someone screwed up". It was so long ago.

I hope, that as technology and lasers, etc. that SOMEBODY did something for that person. She was in her bathrobe 24 hours a day.

Look into a night guard if you still have the bruxism.

Melody

It looks like the trigemenal nerve runs over the jaw joint. They actually sounds too silmilar to be totally different. I mean TN does not necessarily involve the jaw joint,but the jaw joint seems to be innervated by the Trigemenal nerve. At least that's what the 10 different photos look like. Most people with TN seem to also have pain that shoots in the cheek that stems from the ear and the pian can run th lenghth of the nerve, and so does TMJ.

I am not noticeably swollen per say,but my face does look a bit different,and I am sore all over even under my chin right now.

Thanks for the support guys.

That sounds exquisitely unpleasant, Aussie, and am sending you my very best wishes for a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself.