I dont want to be the one to diagnose you----you should go to a doctor to have it checked out. To me this sounds like tmd. if you need the name of a good doctor let me know and ill search one out for you. You should have a doc that is well versed in tmd not just anyone.

do you clench or grind your teeth at night---you would wake up with sore teeth if you did it hard enough. you should have a doctor make a night guard for you if you do or even if you dont its a good idea to have one. If you need anything let me know an ill be right here to help you


Also Welcome to the board. We are overjoyed to have you here. please keep us well informed as to how you are doing.

Hi WomaninPain,
What you are describing are signs of TMJ. You need to be really careful about the popping. When you open your mouth "too" far, the meniscus (disc) that cushions the TMJ is being stretched or pulled out of position and getting caught. That is why your mouth gets stuck open. The fact that you aren't in pain (except when putting the jaw back in joint) is good. The crunching sound you hear, tho, is a little troubling. That usually is a sign of osteoarthritis (the break-down of cartilage, of which, the disc is mostly made of).

I don't want to scare you. You can live with arthritis and TMJ with no or little difficulties if you treat your jaw properly. That may mean no more gum chewing or eating anything that puts extra stress on the jaw (tough steak, taffy, etc.) Talking less, watching your posture at the computer, being careful not to open your mouth too wide for too long, and being gentle with your jaw and mouth are all helpful. There are also exercises that you can do in an attempt to strength the jaw, but only do them when your jaw is not in stress or pain - check out nismat.org/ptcor/tmj for some basic info and exercises.

I also urge you to see a dentist as Dyan said. If your current dentist is not all that up-to-date with TMJ, seek someone who is.

Please ask any questions you might have here. Educating yourself is so very important. And try not to pop your jaw (relax and ease the disc back in to place).

God bless...
Carol

Thank you both for the information. I figured it might be but I so fear the dentist that I try not to go but I also fear that this will get worse...just wondering, what is TMD? How can you get TMD and TMJ?

I was a heavy kid and ate a lot as well as always being a talker...many tell me I don't shut up lol...just wondering how one gets something like this.

I have learned to yawn and open my mouth more recently so that it does not get stuck open, it's very scary when it happens, it feels like there is no way it will go back closed, but now they I yawn differently I still get the popping just not stuck. I am going to call my dentist and talk to him right away. Do general doctors handle this sort of thing as well?

tmj is your joint. its short for temporomandibular joint. tmd is short for temporomandibular disorder.

tmd is caused by any number of things---stress, anxiety, trauma, dentist trauma etc. sometimes people are born with it.

dont worry about it getting worse. worry about being proactive with treatments and getting it "fixed"

General doctors dont know much about tmd so dentists get "stuck" with it more often than not. If you need a good tmd dentist let me know and ill find you one.