clenching teeth-trigger
 

This is one thing that I do when I get stressed, I clench my teeth. I didn't put 2+2 together until today. Today was a good day, until the car ride home. Driving still is a stressor for me, especially during heavy traffic times, I always clench my teeth, which causes my headache to become almost unbearable.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thought I'd ask, someone may have a very good solution to this problem.

I have a problem with clenching my teeth. I used to do it while I slept. The gabapentin I take has resolved that. Teeth clenching is damaging to the TMJ. My jaw muscles got seriously overdeveloped from my clenching. I also developed some TMJ problems.

Have you tried chewing gum while driving home?

There is a Botox procedure where they inject the Botox in the jaw muscle to reduce its strength. This helps save the teeth and TMJ.

Being stressed in congested traffic is counter to your brain's need for no stress. Do you have any options to not be in congested traffic?

You might also try seeing a Pankey dentist. You can find one at http://www.pankeydentist.com.

They can create a splint/night guard for you to wear so the clenching doesn't hurt your teeth or your jaw. I have one that I've worn for years and it has helped my headaches and TMD quite a lot.

If a custom night guard is too expensive, I've noticed that you can buy non-custom versions in drugstores.

I definitely have a jaw clenching problem too. I try to consciously keep my jaw relaxed and I rub it.

When I thought I was suffering form migraines, I discovered that some people think those night guards are actually not the best thing for headaches because it allows you to bite harder than you normally would without it and that engages your temporalis muscle which can cause very bad headaches. Experts don't know what exactly causes migraines, but this is one theory. I even spoke to my neurologist about it and she shrugged and said anything is worth a shot.

Here's a link to a picture of the muscle and what it's capable of and a webpage about an alternate to the guard (I was actually thinking of buying this thingie but the spinal tap worked for me and I didn't need it anymore):

http://www.21stcenturydental.com/smith/book/2nd_sth.htm

Here's a link to a massage therapist's perception of the temporalis muscle:

http://dmmassage.com/?p=262

And then here's someone's blog about how he relaxes his jaw and what other methods he takes to avoid getting headaches from that sort of thing:

http://www.thedailyheadache.com/2008...migraines.html

Here's his treatment plan:

-Learn to relax my jaw and monitor the problematic spot on my neck in individual biofeedback sessions
-Avoid crunchy or chewy foods (for a short time)
-Cut all food into kid-sized pieces
-Learn to chew up and down rather than in a circular motion
-Continue to see my massage and physical therapists for jaw work
-Use self-massage and acupressure to further treat muscles

Here's the link he includes in his blog with self-massage tips for the face:

http://airtravel.about.com/od/travel...sageFace_2.htm