Jaw-bone Joint Again

[h90]

I had one and a half year ago pain in the jaw-bone joint. If I remember right, the BNH hospital gave me "Synflex (275 mg)" and "Norgesic" both 2x1.

It helped fast.

Now I have it again and used the tablets for 4 days again, but it did not help (the tablets made me dizzy).

It does not hurt much, and I can open and close the mouth almost 100 %, so it is just a little bit.

Anyone has an idea how to get rid of it?

[sbk]

Are you grinding your teeth in your sleep? Do you wake up with a sore jaw? If so, you should see a dentist, they can make a form for you to put in your mouth and it will allow the jaw to relax and stop you from grinding your teeth in your sleep

[toptuan]

You probably have Temporal Mandibular Joint disfunction, or TMJ. Few insurance companies cover the condition because its cause is so elusive. I suffered with the condition for five years.

Symptoms: inability to open jaw fully, "popping" noise at jaw-skull joint when opening and closing jaw, severe jaw pain, severe headaches, dizziness, and reduced hearing (the swelling of the muscles at the jaw joint put pressure on my ear canal, nearly closing it). It began to severely affect my job performance, and of course I thought the worst (brain tumor, etc.).

Many (often conflicting) causes are offered by the medical establishment, including grinding of teeth, misaligned bite function, stress, injuries to the jaw at birth or later, vitamin deficiency, etc.

Over a period of five years, I visited dentists and doctors all over my Western home country, spending $10,000+ USD of my own money to find pain relief as well as a cure. Ibuprophen-type drugs were often prescribed, but didn't help. I then came across a piece of literature which indicated that most sufferers of TMJ have the condition brought on from stress. Indeed, I had just gone through a messy family break-up and was in a major career transition just before the onset of my condition. Double-whammy.

I tried something new and "revolutionary:" exercise.

After beginning a daily exercise program, my stress was re-directed through the expending of energy at the health club, rather than through my jaw joint. Symptoms disappeared within a month. That was 20 years ago. Occasionally, TMJ tries to make a come-back, but I can directly trace the symptoms to stress. At those times, I just step up my exercise program a notch, and all is well again.

Many doctors hypothesize that babies who were delivered by the forceps method (in which metal clamps are placed about the baby's head, at the jaw joints) are later sufferers of TMJ. I fit that profile.

May your cure be so simple and effective. If not, Google TMJ; there's plenty of information out there.

Good luck!

Edited March 11, 2008 by toptuan

[haybilly]

I had one and a half year ago pain in the jaw-bone joint. If I remember right, the BNH hospital gave me "Synflex (275 mg)" and "Norgesic" both 2x1.

It helped fast.

Now I have it again and used the tablets for 4 days again, but it did not help (the tablets made me dizzy).

It does not hurt much, and I can open and close the mouth almost 100 %, so it is just a little bit.

Anyone has an idea how to get rid of it?

Not 100% sure but it sounds like a TMJ--tempero-mandibular joint problem and could be caused by nocturnal teeth grinding, as SBK says, or a bite problem-in other words your bite is not aligned correctly--or it could be something else--I also would check it out with a good dentist--or wait for a comment from 'gunnyD' who usually has good advice.

[haybilly]

I had one and a half year ago pain in the jaw-bone joint. If I remember right, the BNH hospital gave me "Synflex (275 mg)" and "Norgesic" both 2x1.

It helped fast.

Now I have it again and used the tablets for 4 days again, but it did not help (the tablets made me dizzy).

It does not hurt much, and I can open and close the mouth almost 100 %, so it is just a little bit.

Anyone has an idea how to get rid of it?

Not 100% sure but it sounds like a TMJ--tempero-mandibular joint problem and could be caused by nocturnal teeth grinding, as SBK says, or a bite problem-in other words your bite is not aligned correctly--or it could be something else--I also would check it out with a good dentist--or wait for a comment from 'gunnyD' who usually has good advice.

Sorry, Toptuan beat me to it--as I was writing my 2-pennyworth.

[h90]

yes it is definitely TMJ, but a mild form. I can't tell if I am grinding teeth in the night (no complains from my wife).

The first time I got it, it was from SCUBA diving with a not well fitting mouthpiece in very cold water. That time I had the feeling to loose the regulator and bite 1 hour very strong on it.

But this time I didn't scuba or anything other, as long as I can remember.

I woke up a few times in the night due to pain at the jaw-joint finding myself in very strange positions. Like face down on the side of the pillow, with open mouth and bend the jaw to one side as far as the joints let it bend.

So that sounds like I am sleeping in weired positions. That might has caused it.

I have no bite problem. My positions are not 100 % perfect, but OK.

If I get it just all one and a half years...it is OK, but how to get rid of it?