dyan quick question should one always sleep on their back for tmj? I sleep on my stomach maybe its making it worse...

one other question you got me kind of nervous when you said the jaw isn't supposed to snap..mine snaps very very loud you can hear it from rooms away...does that mean i'm screwed basically and will need surgery?

No it doesnt mean that you will need surgery, YOu should find someone that will make you a splint to put some distance between your teeth and to get the popping under controll.

I loved sleeping on my stomach---Ive been forbidden to--the best way to sleep is on your side or on your back. On your stomach you put pressure on your jaw as well as put a turn in your neck. For me sleeping on my stomach made things very much worse. You might also want to look into getting a good support pillow like memory foam. I use chiroflow---you fill it with water and it supports you where you need it as you move.

thanx again dyan for the advice...if the jaw does chronically dislocated again and again which is why i have the snapping noises unless i manually recapture what is one to do? I mean i read there are arthroscopic surgeries to sew the joint in or something so it doesn't keep doing that but they are risky themselves...I am hoping to somehow increase the blood circulation to that area so it eventually heals on its own however if that is possible don't know if it is or not...hopefully i can do it somehow...i am still positive for me anyway the stomach spasms are from the tmj b/c its very evident in my case...

I think weve already coverd that topic.

i serouisly can't take this pain anymore im gonna take anything now to get rid of it...it was a 10/10 yesterday im not really better at all...I took ativan passionflower tea, fish oil msm, glucosimine, and now im using a tdp minral lamp...i can manage to get the pain to a pretty low level with all of these things but i don't like the neuralgic pain i have still and it causes my stomach to spasm so i take pepperment tea a lot too now which is helping to a degree...I have crevices in my tongue like i said my stomach isn't good b/c of this...I can't stand living like this everday i figure i might as well do something to kill the pain with school coming up my immune system is crap i need to fix this and i guess if i have to over-stimulate my brain a little with ativan and these supplements..Basically i am giving in i don't care anymore i need everything i can get is what i am really saying... its less harm to the body then this terrible suffering...It feels like bone on bone and my nerves are pinched.....i might even consider an anti-convulsant or tricyclic if i cant reduce it further...i wish i could get surgery to fix this but my father doesn't want me to get it done b/c of all the horror stories even tho there are successful ones like you dyan...

well go to the neuromuscular dentist--he will help you--youve got to ask your dad to reconsider waiting on it. you have to be willing to do everything that you can to get better--this is what is going to help you.

the first NMD said she couldn't help me b/c my case was too complex...i have a mild degenerated disc and she didn't want to deal with my cross bite also and i had to manually put it in place and it still wasn't pain free..is that something similar you have dyan and if it is were u able to regenerate the disc with the NMD or become pain free yet? The only thing that makes sense is a permanent splint as we went over before but that too is so complex to get one for....im literally missing bone or joint...i can get rid of the inflammation but like i said the problem is the pinched nerve im getting super repetitive but so is this pain...

it might be that we need to find you a more experience nmd--i will talk to my doctor about you and see if we can figure out something for you---pm me your zip again and we will see what we can do--have you seen a chiropractor? that would help with the pinched nerve.

I had to have the surgery to correct my problem--i had structural problems. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get the surgery done. surgery is not a bad thing. you have to think of the possibility of things being a lot worse if you dont do it and think of the releif that you will have when you do have it. yes i know it is scary but if you werent scared then id be really worried.

Hi hi, i came in on the end of this, but i read the first original post. I Agree totally, i have looked into this some. That TMJ and anxiety are related physically to each other. Some how someway it is true. It could be because the inner ear is effected by tmj, i heard once that the inner ear sends emotions to the brain, and it could be it effects the sympathetic nervous sysytem, which also controls emotions. it's not really psycological, it is physical causing the emotions to go haywire. My jaw was severly dislocated ,the bone.... anyway i was totally out of it, dilusional, screaming, you name it, panic was horrific. waves and waves of panic horror would come over me. I took another route, and i would like to mention it, altho you said yours was dislocated 6 years? a chiropracter popped my jaw bone back in, that was IT? it did RE-DISLOCATED for a few years off and on. it had to be trained, because everything inside the jaw was stretched out. but it stays in now almost all the time. But i have to be honest with anyone who trys this way to go. It did hurt like hell. it was like setting a broken leg. It was almost like setting a dislocated shoulder. and it is always important to get a very good qualified doctor-chiro-pt-dentist. because tmj is a very tough thing to fix. no matter how you go. it takes time, and it is very complicated. and a person has to be patient. but when that chiro set my face and it moved over(my bite) TWO inches towards my nose. i knew i had found the problem. but i went around like that for 2-3years. how out of it, i was... i can not believe sometimes, when i look back. That is why i joined groups to help or at least tell someone i know... you are not alone. love cindy

hey i talked to the one dentits( the one i sent you yesterday) they are waiting for your call and said that they would see you today.

im not allowed to go the dentist b/c my father won't pay again and i can't afford to use my own money on it...This is a sad state of affairs im just going to take ativan and good supplements in hope that one day this neuralgic pain dissapears... ,....I have school coming up so hopefully i am able to go the next 3-4 months till i decide something else...My current regiemen is ativan 2mg/per day upped from 1mg a day...Fish oil, MSM, GLucosimine, TDP Mineral Lamp, Glucosimine and MSM cream, vitamin E, L-glutamine, Aloe Vera....WIth all of the above the inflammaiton is down but i am left with neuralgic pain till i take ativan...So i guess i will keep taking these till i die...I'm gonna start mega-dosing calcium and magesium now in hopes that might allow me to reduce ativan...Does anyone want to add any supplement that might help with the muscle/neuralgic pain?

how old are you????----you might just have to deal with this till you are out of school and on your own. you know no matter what you need to better your life. this comes by concuring tmd--you cant concentrate on it unless you do--you basically are taking everything that you can.

im 23 but i feel like 100...no one supports me on this they think its chronic stress and that the pain won't ever go down when im stress free b/c the pain is the cause of the stress..this hasn't worked b/c the pain is 10/10 without drugs or supplements and i am just told to meditate but that is stupid..i hate my parents for not helping me more but they took me to one doctor already and it turned out to be a bust and the NMD didn't help either she just said my case was too complex b/c of my crossbite and i need surgery...This is pointless. I feel like the unlukiest person on the face of the earth or better yet just cursed...B/c i took drugs that incapacitated my sex drive and was dying of pain for 6 years and i have pain 24/7 still on top of having inadequate hormones as well for my age...this is the f*ked up situation i have to deal with..

sometimes i think this pain is trigeminal neuragia...After all tmj is also neuralgic in nature...I read for trigeminal neuralgia they too take muscle relaxants or have sugery to numb the nerve that is causing all the trouble...I believe there is one or 2 particular nerves doing this to me and it won't shut off...Even tho my joint snaps super loud when its recaptured etc its the nerves that ultimately cause the pain in the end...i can chew fine and it doesn't cause anymore pain than there already is so i am wondering whats up with this...i think the nerves are always compressed which is the root cause of the pain..

I think i have the dull constant TN not the erratic one you get from wind or spontaneously btw...

yeah ill get on it--let me warn you though that you want a nmd to teach you how to use the tens before you use it. ill get on this asap.

in desperation i got gabbapentin from a psychiatrist...I read it helps those who are in chronic pain and neuralgic pain...I know this is early but it feels like its already working after one 100mg dose...I took it after an ativan which is a muscle relaxer but maybe this is the answer i have been looking for...the only negative effect is my eye feels weird and i feel a little spaced out but at least its better than living in tons of pain for the time being..

Im sorry i dont mean to be insensitive--but at 23 you should be able to do this yourself.I was your age and i paid for all my treatments and 3 surgeries.

its not that i can't pay for it myself its that i don't have much money left if i use my savings and i am going to school about to finish so i can make quite a bit of money one day...Plus everytime i go to a doctor i get critisized b/c i already went to 2 doctors for this and neither of them helped...If i had no pain i would be more independent than most i can do a lot of things on my own if i take a muscle relaxer i feel like my old self but it wears off quickly..

...Didn't know you had 3 surgeries done tho?
I thought u had 1 only...Were the previous 2 unecessary btw? Are you almost 100% healed yet...

Also do you still take muscle relaxants would like to know more about your story i read it but couldn't find all the details i keep discovering new things about u...

I am calling the NMD you recommended monday btw after school...

excellent--he will help you. dont let the doctors critisize you. Ive been to multiple doctors. the previous surgeries that i had didnt help. BUt we had to try those more conservative surgeries before becoming more agressive. One was merely to have my wisdom teeth pulled--they said that if that was done the jaw problem would go away--yeah right---then i had an arthrocentesis--waste of time really---then I had the latest in april(Im still healing but pain is 100% better--I still hurt yes but its so much better than before) I can say how i feel after a year passes.

I just got off of a muscle relaxer and i have a feeling that when i talk to the surgeon Ill be back on it. I was taking flexeril. It did ok but I noticed that I started spasming befor the second dose. Um where did you find my story--ill read it and see if i can update it at all---Ive been on here so long i simply dont remember what ive told any one any more lol. I just know that Im adicted to this place lol