I don't have any suggestions.....I'm open to any you may have. I've had tmj for several years. At this second i'm in tremendous pain. My jaw is killing me....From my ear all the way to my chin, all the way down the side and back of my neck hurts and, my head and my ear hurts. I'm 30 years old and only have 6 teeth on the bottom because of the damage caused by the clenching and grinding at night.....I've tried the over the counter night guards but only a couple of my teeth would touch the guard....So I wondered what was the point. Everybody on here, I understand your pain. Good luck and if you come up with anything that works let me know. Thanks

edwina, I too have tmj problems and dizziness. I have had diagnosed tmj for 25 or 30 years and had the symptoms long before that. I have tinnitus and vertigo...this is the first episode I've ever had that involved dizziness...scary!! Advil alleviates the inflamation and helps me with the dizziness. Tylenol does nothing for me. Years ago my dentist prescribed Valium, and that helped. Of course now I don't think anyone would prescribe Valium for this. Good luck. Only one who has this condition can fully understand.

HI all, there are several components to this disorder. The dentist can't help you if the muscles are like steel rods in your neck. You HAVE to get the muscles relaxed first. Carol is right, not all massage is the same. I found relief from the third type of massage therapy I tried. Relaxing massage and craniosacral massage didn't help me, but trigger point has been amazing. Based on that success, my doc has sent me to physical therapy. The therapist says once he gets the muscles under control, the dentist will have more success in treating my bite. Someone said the muscles went back to being in spasm after the massage. You have to remember they have been like that for a very long time, that's why you have to go regularly. There is no quick fix for most of us, unfortunately. You have to be persistant and patient.
About the dizziness, that is from the muscles getting so tight. I also have visual effects. The eye doc said the nerves are all very close in that area. Although the trigger point massage hasn't gotten rid of all the pain, it did stop the progression of the symptoms, and I don't feel the dizziness any more. Sometimes its baby steps with this disorder. And lots of money, LOL.

I like Edna do not like taking medicine I have had Tmj for 2 years and have had surgery were they break your jaws and wire them shut for 6 weeks to try to realign your jaw.I thought this had worked uo until about a week ago when I had my first pop in my jaw since my surgery about 1 year ago.Now I feel the headaches and dizzy spells again and my jaw is starting to stiffen up.does anyone know of any medication that works for the intense headaches and dizzy spells.Please Help!!!!
Brandi

you can try a muscle relaxer like flexeril---also id try a chiropractor.

Ok..I'll try to cut this down. I've been dizzy for a year and 3 months now and just freaked out, scared, looking for answers and just want to be rid of it. I've had my eyes and ears checked (clear), CT scan of my head and sinuses (clear except for a small sinus retention cyst that is not causing the problem), MRI of the head (clear), blood work to check thyroid, blood sugar and anemia (clear). Been to a neurologist that said I'm having migraines (I don't think it's migraines b/c the meds never worked and made me feel worse). Now my chiropractor is saying that I have a weakness of the left lobe in my brain that is causing an imbalance and that's why I'm so dizzy. We're trying all kinds of eye exercises and ways of adjusting my neck and what not to stimulate my left side of the brain. So far NOTHING. I'm wondering if I have TMJ. About 5 yrs ago I had horrible clicking in my jaw, on the left side, and my jaw would lock. That has stopped, but I am still getting a small pop and grinding sound on my left side. To hold my mouth open for long gets tough. I had 2 crowns put in and had bad sensitivity to new fillings (this was about 5 months before the dizziness started). I started getting bad pain in my left side of jaw up to my hear. The dentist made a mouth guard for me b/c I used to clench very bad. Didn't help. No one will consider TMJ and I'm wondering if that's what I have. I am dizzy just about all day. Tends to go away at night and if I'm lucky I'll get a day here and there w/out the dizziness or minimal dizziness. I get tension in my neck and face. The dizziness starts at the base of my skull and shoots behind my eyes. I can live w/ pain..I can't do this dizziness anymore. If anyone as any suggestions I would love to hear them! Thank you so much.

Hi all,
I noticed last year that I had TMJ. One of my joint bones was already seriously damaged and I had face pain and neck problems. I fixed my TMJ totally - Non surgically in only a few weeks. He at first sent me to get an MRI and made a mouthpiece afterwards that brought my jaw into the right position by having me wear the mouthpiece at night. I learned how to chew during the day without having my teeth touch and after just a few weeks my face felt like I woke up from a long deep sleep. I had no idea that this was so easy.
Now after my pain was totally gone and the clicking almost too he put ceramic crowns onto my lower 8 back teeth, without grinding them down. They are called onlays. Now I can chew again and am sleeping without a mouthpiece already for a few weeks and feel great.

how long has this lasted. its common for tmj to come and go.----do let me know what it was that you did

Interesting topic and commentary.
My TMJ started 20 years ago with severe headaches. The GP treated the problem with antibiotics that never worked.
Iin the past 2 years the TMJ manifested itself into jaw pain and tinnitus. I finally obtained a mouth guard and this helped significantly. Approx a year ago I started to have intermittent vertigo (severe and not so severe). This seemed to be related to the level of stress I was experiencing. I was prescribed BETA Histine but it has limited results. I continue to work through this with massage on my neck/back/jaw but I need to get control over the vertigo. Any suggestions?
On a separate topic it seems like many TMJ symptoms mimic Menieres. What is the difference?

I am starting on my TMJ journey right now and I have to tell you, reading all your post are kind of scary. I am only 22 years old and have done such damage to my teeth that I am afraid I will have to look into dentures in the next few years. I have visited one tmj specialist who told me that the carteledge cusion between the joint is dislocating due to overwork of the tendons. I have torn the tendons on the left side and strained/pulled the tendions on my right side by clenching and grinding at night. I have also just recently developed vertigo but it is only when I lay down and when I first get up in the mornings. The specialist is talking about doing surgery to fix the tendons and replace the cartledge. Have not decided if I am willing to go through that yet but from what I hear from everyone here, it may be my best option. Also edina, I found that eating through a straw actually made my pain worse. All those muscles are very active when sucking. I found that just spooning liquids into my mouth has worked alot better.
Sarah

Hello...i have been reading all of this and am amazed at all the info here. i also have tmj, neck and shoulder pain and tightness and most recently woke up with the room spinning which terrified me. i thought i was having a stroke or blood clot or something awful. it left me weak and shaken. the next day i went to my gp who laid me on a table and had me turn my head to left and i got dizzy, he said probably virus in inner ear and it would go away eventually. i took it upon myself to visit an ent on friday. she listened and put me in the chair, i was not prepared for what was about to happen next. it is called the epley maneuver. it is about these minute crystals that get out of place in the inner ear and this maneuver is designed to get them to go back in place. once she lowered my head and to the right the room started spinning and uncontrollable speeds, i was not allowed to close my eyes, it was sheer terror. then it was over to my left and again the spinning and one more position. i have to go back on friday(2 more days) to check my right ear again and i am terrified and then we have to check my left ear which she says is unusual to have in both ears so i am praying it is not both of them. i have noticed some improvement since the first visit. i can move my head to the right and not get dizziness and i am beginning to be able to bend down and over without dizziness. i have had to sleep upright for the past 5 days and it doesnt do much for neck and back problems. has anyone else gone through this please write back