First off welcome. secondly there is an answer. I sent you a pm. I am a musician myself and can understand how it must feel. If you need me email me or pm me and ill do all i can to help.

one thing is to never give up hope---Ive had this all my life and I finally found the answer. Ill be going back to singing as soon as Im done. what Im doing is working.

Hi, I'm another new member. This forum is amazing. It is so comforting to know that this level of support is out there.

I have been recently diagnosed with TMJ but have been having symptoms for 3 - 4 years. The level of pain I'm experiencing now made me seek help as I was starting to suffer psychologically.

The main reason that I am posting in this thread is that my situation is related to this, but also very different. I'm a professional Sound Engineer and am starting to find that the high sound levels and the use of ear plugs are getting more and more uncomfortable.

I really sympathize with your daughter that a condition of this nature is threatening the thing she loves doing most.

For me, my line of work is the only thing I'm good at so the threat of losing that is devastating.

Has anyone come across any advice for dealing with high sound levels when it causes the TMJ to flare up?

Many thanks

Hi Zappa,
I'm sorry to read that you are having problems with loud sound levels. This is actually a common complaint of TMJ sufferers and I'm sorry to say that I've never read where anyone truly conquered this problem. I do think that if you can keep the TMJ and pain at a manageable level, it will help. I am much more sensitive to loud noises when in pain versus no pain. I wonder if it has anything to do with the vibrations structurally inside the ear necessary to even hear sound? The inner ear and TMJoint are right next to each other and share muscles, nerves, etc. Perhaps these vibrations also aggravate the actual joint area. In thinking this thru, I would suppose that when we are in pain, there is usually swelling in the joint and the vibration of hearing (loud noises having a stronger, bigger vibration) would definitely irritate the jaw. It makes sense to me, but I haven't read anything to back up my thinking.

What are you going to do now that you have been diagnosed with TMJ? Treatment plans? I really do believe that TMJ and its symptoms can either be "cured" or managed. It frequently seems to be a matter of finding a good dentist and treatment plan. I pray that you will find the help you need.

Hello TeamKime. Your posting about your daughter and the flute brought back many memories for me. I also was planning on becoming a professional woodwind musician (bassoon). TMJ totally sidetracked my plans, but it wasn't the only thing. I also played the flute and in trying to remember the flute embouchure, I can see where your daughter would have problems.

I know this is only my opinion, but I would highly urge her to see dentists who specialize in either functional jaw orthotics (FJO) or neuromuscular. I do think she may have to go the "longer" route to beat this with possibly repositioning splints, etc. I hope I am wrong and that it is a simple matter of one tooth cuspid being too high and causing her to grind her teeth at night.

Sadly it will take several "specialists'" opinions and research on your own before you are able to pick a truly "right" way to help and then there are still no guarantees that it is right and will work. I'm sorry to make it sound so doom and gloomy, but there honestly is hope. I didn't fully give up playing the bassoon because of TMJ. I didn't have the resources to go to auditions, so in combining all that (plus, I wasn't really good enough I don't think), I became a secretary (a good secretary, mind you ). If your daughter is that good, keep seeking the help she needs and also plan on having to pay a fee, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Please take care both TeamKime (daughter) and Zappa. I will pray that you find the help you need.

God bless you,
Carol

Carol,

Thank you for your kind words of support.

Now that I actually have a positive diagnosis which all of my symptoms fit, it feels like an enormous relief - firstly that there is nothing wrong that is of a life threatening nature, and secondly that I now understand a little more about the cause of the pain and discomfort and can now seek guidance where I feel I am heading down the correct path.

My TMJ stems from an event where i was attacked in the street by two people. They got their kicks (unfortunate pun) and I have been left with a lasting legacy that I now have to work hard to conquer.

I am due to be fitted for a splint as there is evidence of tooth grating, and have been offered advice with regards lessening the pain, and resting my jaw in order to restore proper function.

Now that I have at least some idea as to what is causing the pain and pressure build up, I'm looking objectively at my lifestyle and spotting common sense things that can't be helping the situation, like enjoying crusty bread and chewy meat, and nervous nail biting, in addition to things like posture. With posture however, I am aware that my positioning can be lazy, but am unsure of the correct posture to adopt for certain situations - are there any pieces of advice that anybody has found useful for this purpose?

I real do feel that I have made some degree of progress, just by knowing certain behavioral habits to look out for and to consciously suppress.

It is really great to know that there is a forum out there with people who appear to genuinely care about helping others offering support through this unpleasant experience.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow, something finally makes sense now. I was a flute player in a military band and was planning to use the GI Bill to get my degree in music performance after my service, but had to stop playing due to TMJ. Around the end, when the pain was so bad I was on a liquid diet and not talking, I kept having this experience of extreme ear pain when marching next to the snare drums. When they'd come up alongside me the sharp hits were so incredibly loud - I kept thinking, what's wrong with me, why is this so much louder than any other snare drums I've performed with before? It was so bad I almost stopped marching a couple times. I wrote it off to being weak. But now I guess it was from the TMJ. I heard about a special clinic for musicians a while back, I thought it was in Chicago but I'm not finding anything on the web (maybe its become more general now - this was a few years ago). Anyway thanks to the sound guy who posted about the loud sounds... you've cleared up a mystery for me. I don't know if I'll try to pick up the flute again. My sympathies to all the other sufferers out there.

I am looking for someone for my daughter in the Pittsburgh area. She is a music ed and voice major. She has tmj so badly it is effecting her singing and playing of instruments. So far she has been to two dentists, both who want her to get braces. Can't sing or play with braces. She is stating to think about changing her major because of the problems. I am looking for someone who uses ultasound with electo stimulus. Anyone know?