Needing some personal experiences w/ TMJ.

I do not have a dentist (anymore) and I haven't brought this up to my pcp.  I keep feeling real soreness at the very back top of my teeth/jaw, escpecially my right side.  It will resinate up to my temple area and just under my eye if it is bugging me long enough.  I do get clicking(more like enternal popping) alot when I eat.  I wear a phone headset at work and notice that I get more achiness around the back part of my upper molar(my last tooth).  If I touch the area just in front of my ears they tend to be sore/hurt.  I had it real bad on one side last week, were the bottom of my jaw was hurting as well.  Just under the back of my jaw on my neck really hurt.

I read about TMJ and I don't know if what is going on is considered as TMJ.  So I thought I'd ask ya' all and get some personal experiences with it.

Thanx in advance.

The ear soreness is probably the tight mandible compressing into the joint that is right at the ear. The soreness on the teeth can be grinding and or clenching as mentioned, but there is also a primary nerve called the trigeminal that feeds right through that joint area and then branches out to many areas including your teeth, eye muscles and even facial muscles. But if that nerve is seriously compressed at the jaw joint, it usually effects more then just one or two teeth. A whole bunch of teeth will ache at times, your vision gets effected off and on, and if you try rolling your eyes, they ache also. The pain on the side of your head can be refered pain or the fact that the muscles that close your jaw also include one that goes way up the side of the head. That one I used to have to lay down and grab my hair and pull it, stretch it and hold it to get any relief.

If this gets to the point of the least bit intolerable, ask your Doctor about a referal to a physical therapist if your Insurance allows it or you can afford it, or find a massage therapist with allot of experience with treating jaw problems. A physical therapist maynot help that much directly, or even the massage therapist unless you go a bunch of times, but going to them teaches you how you can help yourself. All physical therapist are preaty much trained on muscle problems with TMJ, which you maynot even have. Massage therapist are a different story. Find one that has several levels of certification in Cranial Sacral work. These massage therapist are usually trained on working with the jaw correctly.

By definition, TMJ is a significant disorder of the jaw joints themselves, but that doesn't mean your not getting muscular symptoms far in advance by something your doing, such as clenching or grinding in your sleep, or even how your holding your jaw while you work. While this is aggravated, try to eat foods that require the least amount of chewing and stay completely away from gum forever. Gum and people with a disposition toward jaw problems are a horrible mix.

My personal experience with TMJ problems is that my stress level got so high I was horrificaly grinding and clenching my teeth in my sleep. This resulted in severe compression on both joints at both ears. This resulted in severe ear pain, plugging of the estation tubes where my ears were almost constantly plugged like when you go up in a air plane, only mine would never clear. Severe facial pain. Teeth frequently hurting everywhere, especialy the top ones. Migraine headaches all day and still working at a job at same time. Eyesight got so bad I had to start wearing glasses. Eyes would ache horrible when I rolled them the eye muscles got so tight. Head feeling like it was in a vice. Swallowing problems. Chokeing sensations. Feeling like I had chronic sinus pain.

The worst symtoms went on for about 8 months and then very, very slowly got better over a period of years. I went to a TMJ specialist. He X-rayed my joints and came back and said I didn't have TMJ, because diagnosticaly, it pertains to the condition of the joints. All of those symptoms were the result of stress, high anxiety and panic syndrome not being treated and impacting as stress to the jaw.