Hi, this is a difficult one to answer. I would say you probably have started having tmj problems, which can cause anxiety. But, anxiety can also cause tmj problems. Which one came first? It's really hard to tell, but I would go ahead and treat the symptoms.

See if your doctor will prescribe valium for a few weeks to take just before going to bed. This will help any grinding or clenching you might be doing while sleeping. Also, stick with a soft food diet for a few weeks. No gum chewing or eating ice, etc. Definitely stay away from carmel or gooey type foods. Use lots of moist heat and even ice at times.

If these help, you probably are having anxiety problems and should work at getting rid of whatever is giving you anxiety as well as continue to treat the tmj symptoms.

If the pain continues, your tmj disc(s) might be out of joint (and that might be true if it's more of an anxiety problem). Ask your doctor to send you for an mri (a tissue imaging x-ray). This should show what's going on with your jaw and discs.

If and even if not, your problems might end up being anxiety, don't hesitate to take something like prozac. It is an excellent drug for people who have tmj because of the seratonin levels in the body. Some people have problems taking prozac and if you do, you should try something else like elavil, etc.

I recommend going to the following website for good information written basically for tmj newbies. It has some excellent exercises and suggestions to try for control of tmj pain - www.Nismat.Org/ptcot/tmj/
do all the research you can regarding tmj. Get yourself educated because there aren't very many people, including medical, who are familiar with tmj and you should if that's what you might have.

I hope I have given you some good suggestions. Tmj is a very unusual "disorder." let's hope you can figure this all out and get it under control soon. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Take care of yourself,
carol

I have done nohing but research tmj for the past two days. I cannot wait until monday so I can go and see my dentist. I have all the symptoms. Most of my symptoms did not start happening until I got my bottom wisdom teeth pulled. The jaw popping when I open and close, and also when I chew. I have headaches around my temples, I get dizzy or vertigo, my jaw muscles feel fatigued. I did a self test last night and took my index finger in mouth and reached down and felt the muscle to see if it was tender and it brought tears to my eyes. It feels great to know whats wrong. Thanks for the help.

Oh dear, you had your wisdom teeth removed. Too often I have heard people start to have tmj problems after their wisdom teeth are removed. The biggest reason is because the oral surgeon had to open your mouth very, very wide and put a lot of pressure on your joint to get the teeth out.


Now you need to do everything possible to relax and heal your jaw muscles so the disc(s) will go back into joint. This can happen so don't panic yet. It's kindof like a sprain to the jaw tendons and ligaments.


I am not a doctor, but I have had tmj for 25 years. I wish I had known back then what I know now. I probably wouldn't have tmj or least as bad as I do. Oh well. My suggestions to help you are to ask the dentist or doctor for a script of valium for a few weeks to take at night time just before bed. Make sure your pillow supports your neck ergonomically (sp?). For pain, take up to 800 mg of ibuprofen (motrin) at a time but be careful with your stomach and eat food around the time of taking the pills. Use lots and lots of moist heat on jaw and neck. For a few weeks, even though this may be hard to do, eat only soft foods. This is very important for these first few weeks. Also, be very careful not to open your mouth wide for anything - yawning, dentist, eating, etc.


If after a couple of weeks, if the pain is still really bothering you, ask your doctor to refer you to a physical therapist. Only go to one who is familiar with tmj. Your insurance might not pay for tmj pt and if not, see if the doc can dx you with tmj with neck pain. If you or your doctor know a good massage therapist - massages are very helpful. Chiropractors should not be used at this stage that you are in.


It is too early to consider a bite splint. See if the above suggestions is able to relax you well enough to start the healing of the jaws. If the suggestions look like they are working but you still have some pain, keep up the suggestions for a few more weeks. If you get worse or the suggestions do not help, start talking to your dentist about a bite splint. If your dentist is not comfortable making and adjusting bite splints, find a different dentist for the splint. It doesn't mean your current dentist is a bad dentist or anything. Bite splints can be tricky to make or adjust.


I truly hope these suggestions help. . Have a positive attitude. Tmj can be "cured" even though that word sounds funny to use. Be careful and baby your tmjs. Keep warm, cold will make you hurt a little more.


Take care and let me know what the dentist says.

Well the problem here is that I have had my wisdom teeth out for almost a year. I have had a bad over bite for a long time.. So I dont know whats gonna happen. I will update when I see my dentist. Thanks

The dentist confirmed that I have tmj.. The problem is that he says that theres nothing we can do. He wanted me to wear a guard at night and thats it. He advised me that my jaw was very badly out of line. I have a bad over bite and it even over to the right a bit. I am gonna try to find a tmj specialist and see what they say. Thanks for the replys.

Forgot to ask... Why does tmj cause dizziness?

Hi, I don't agree with your dentist that nothing can be done, so I am glad that you are searching for a tmj specialist. Almost everyone has a jaw out of line whether that's just slightly to bad. Our bodies have learned and adjusted to the little quirks we physically have. That's what makes the human body so absolutely amazing. So, I want you to forget what this dentist told you and work with a new dentist, someone educated in taking care of tmj problems.

If you are in pain now or have pain later, remember the suggestions I made about moist heat. Don't hesitate to ask your doctor for a low dose of valium to take at night for a few weeks. You might want to get involved in some sort of relaxation therapy like yoga or go to weekly or bi-weekly deep tissue massage therapy (with a tmj knowledgable therapist). Other therapy in pressure point and myofascial release are also excellent to try. If you are under a lot of stress right now, and who isn't, ask your doctor about taking an anti-depressant that regulates seratonin levels in your body. Not only do these anti-depressants have a calming effect on the body but reduce tmj pain, I do not fib!

There are many other suggestions I can give to you also if you are interested. If you have trouble finding a good tmj specialist in your area, let me know and i'll post a couple of very reputable websites that have lists of doctors all over the country by locations.

I do want to stress, that if the tmj started because of the wisdom teeth being pulled, i'm pretty confident that if you are able to get all the muscles to relax and stabilize, you might be able to get the disc back into joint. True, it might not work, but a positive attitude can't hurt.

Oh, the bite splint should be the next major step you take once you find the tmj doctor for you. You don't want to put that off too much, though, so I hope you find the perfect doctor soon.

Keep in contact with the health boards. The support they give to us tmj sufferers is so needed. But don't let people who are too negative get to you. I was serious when I said a positive attitude is important to combat tmj's pain.

I do hope and pray that all will work out for you. Let me know how you are doing. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them. Someone will answer and help you and if you need to ask me a specific question, sent me a personal message, no problem. Take care of yourself. Use that moist heat when in pain (and ibuprofen) and get some good sleep if you can.

Carol

I forgot to say anything about vertigo or dizziness. The jaw joint is extremely close to the inner ear. If you look at an x-ray of a head, it's unbelievable how close they are to each other. Thus, when something happens to one, it bothers the other. Whenever I get a cold that affects my ears, my tmj goes crazy. Plus, my tmj causes my ears to feel "stuffy" frequently. This is a common complaint you hear from newer tmj patients.

Dizziness comes from inner ear problems most of the time. So, if the ear gets disturbed because the disc is out of joint and pushing against something that it shouldn't, the ear will get affected and dizziness is one of the results. It can be very aggravating.

I hope that answers your question.
Take care,
carol

I have been going through the exact thing. The dizzy or faint feeling is probably the most aggravating thing to me because it seems to make me lethargic, which is not me. I hope you have been making progress. I have a little. Somedays I feel really close to normal, others, I feel like I fall back. Hang in there, carol has been a great help to me, i'm sure she has to you as well. The bite splint has really helped my anxiety, I don't clang my teeth back together and bite my nails anymore. My dentist said it is important not to get caught up in all of this. Have faith!! Witt

Yes... Carol, has been a big help to me also. Another big thing that helped me with the anxiety part was that I had a ct scan performed. It came back negative and made me feel wonderful. When I first realized I was dizzy feeling I thought I had a brain tumor. It scared the crap out of me. I am only 26.. My blood pressure has been going through the roof. Usually the bottom number being in the 90's most of the time with my hear rate being close to 100 at all times. I just hope the goes away now and I will be happy. Good luck. Thanks

Ive had tmj for about 7 years. The dentist got me doing jaw excercises at first which only made it worse. I then went to a different dentist and she made me a splint. I was supposed to wear it all the time but I was too embarrased to wear it in public. I wore it at home and when I went to bed. With a combination of the splint, pain medications, and headache balm, my tmj rarely plays up. I used the splint for a couple of years and I now no longer need it.
I developed a bit of a routine. If I felt bad pain coming on, I immediately took some panadeine, put my splint in, put headache balm on my temple, top of my jaw, and neck, and went to bed. By the time I woke up my pain was gone.
I wouldnt really recommend stronger drugs like valium unless the pain is very severe. And for any worries you have, you really need to see a doctor.