Hey, all. Let me start my saying i've come here often and find this site very helpful. Thanks for that!

I have had jaw popping and tenderness in my jaw area since I was a teen. I'm now 32. The past 6 months have been a very trying and stessful period of my life, and this is when my new symptoms have begun. I believe I have been clenching in my sleep. My bite is also off. I sucked my thumb for a long time as a kid! :d

it started with ear pain-fullness and dizzy spells. The loud pop that I used to hear when I would open my mouth went away to be replaced by a crackling sound. I also had a sudden onset of a lot of floaters in my vision. I went to my regular doctor, and they said it was sinus stuff. After a few months and many sinus prescriptions later, I went to an ent. He said my ears look fine, and it's probably tmj. My next step was a dentist and possible physical therapy. (i also went to a chiro, who said definitely tmj, but that scared me, and I haven't been back.)

now i'm waiting for my dental appointment. He says he does tmj, so we'll see. (stinks that insurance doesn't cover this stuff- his treatment cost $825.00! Blech! Lol)

anyway, my current symptoms are ear pain and stuffiness, what feels like muscle spasms in my cheek (if I move my eye, sometime I can feel my cheek muscle twinge), and a lot of tightness around my eye(if I try to open my eye really wide, it feels tight and, well, just weird.) what is that about? Can tmj effect the muscles near your eye? I also have some eye pain. Is that normal for tmj? And a lot of tingling in my cheek and below my eye that seems to radiate from my jaw. I'm kinda freaking out, here. I still have jaw soreness and some pain where my back teeth are. Are floaters common at the onset of symtomatic tmj? I just want to take the left front quarter of my face off and replace it!

Like I said, stress in my life has been super high (divorce after 14 years of marriage, but that's a whole nuther story. ) thanks so much for any response. I really appreciate it!

o, and also, when I lay down to sleep on my left side(problem side), I can kinda feel a squishy sound in my ear when I tighten that muscle by swallowing. It feels like fluid is entering my ear. When i'm up and about, it kinda feels like it is draining. Can your jaw joint swell with fluid that can drain into you eustation tube?

Thanks again!