Anyone with TMJ disorders?

Question

I am looking for people with any type of TMJ disorders. I am doing a project on it and I want to find out what it is like from a person who has it. I will choose the best answer by whoever's information I use the most of in my project.

Answer 1

I am one of the people with a jaw disorder. I was in a car accident many years ago. My neck hit the steering wheel and I was thrown against the passengers window with the right side of my face. I was in a parked car so I took full impact of being hit. The car was totaled and "parked" in what was left of my back seat.
I did not feel any injuries at that time, even though shattered glass was everywhere. There was no blood and everything seemed to move ok. It was approx. 3 weeks later when all hell broke loose. One morning upon waking, there was a big rig parked on my chest, I could barely move. Then I noticed that I had a "teeth-ache"(as in several) and a slight ear-ache and sore throat. In just a matter of a couple of hours, I had to go to the emergency room.
I didn't realize that the accident traumatized my body. It was now coming out of shock in full force. They gave me pain pills until my chest could heal which at the time somewhat helped with the "teethache". When I finally stopped with the pain pills for my chest, I knew I was still in deep trouble. The "teeth-ache" became stronger and stronger, the pain was intense until the only thing I could do is to drool in a bucket. Meanwhile, I had noticed several other things happening such as an eye lid on the left side which seemed to be lazy now. No one was able to see a problem. I was finally referred to a specialist in Buffalo, NY. I had to stay overnight where they did tests on the jaw disc. There was the problem. The impact had ripped it from it's position, disrupting teeth nerves, having a terriffic sore throat and others such as my now lazy eye. The doctors suggested surgery. The insurance co. said no they would not allow it or cover it. I was told in time it will heal. That's how they left me. Now, many years later, the jaw continually locks when opening your mouth for a dentist or biting into something to large. I have a constant popping when chewing on the right side, and I never know when my eye is going to get "lazy" again. My teeth are now terrible because the jaw did not align right and teeth constantly meet together where they should not creating a lot of breakage. A dentist can't even give me some hope that dentures will help do to a mis-aligned jaw. It did a lot more damage than anyone could have expected.

Answer 2

I have TMJ. Basically everytime I open and close my mouth there is a popping sound that comes from the mandible not being lined up propperly with top and bottom. It is quite painful at times, I get a lot of facial pain and jaw pain as well as terrible headaches. The only treatment for it really, other than surgery is to wear a specially formed mouth guard at night that prevents me from grinding my teeth and clenching which can add to the pain that is caused by the TMJ. In genereal, its just something i have to deal with, no gum, no really chewy food or candy, nothing that makes you strain when you chew.
Good look on your project. Hope some of this helps

PS- Night train is wrong. It is TMJ TRANS-mandibular jaw. Yes we all have the joint, but not everyone has TMJ :P just happens that the initials are the same

Answer 3

OK so nighttrain 551 likes TMD better than TMJ. That is correct, but it's also OK to say TMJ disorder as long as you say the "disorder" part.
Unfortunately, accidents do happen and all sorts of bad things are the result.
If trauma isn't the cause, TMD is more correctly thought of as the symptoms of stress, i.e. it is one of the end-results of constant, habitual clenching or grinding. Get rid of the stressors=TMD goes away.

Answer 4

A few years back, I kept going to the doctor because I felt pain around my ears. They would check my ears and say everything is fine. I went to a different doctor one day and he asked me if I chewed alot of gum. I said yes. He said it was TMJ. I still chew gum, but only for a minute to get the taste and spit it out.

Answer 5

I have been diagnose with TMJ within the past year. It is not major, but when I open my mouth to talk, it pops really hard (sometimes) and hurts really bad. My doctor prescribed me 800MG Ibuprofen for swelling, and said to come backif it has gotten worse. It has not gotten worse yet, but I had to stop taking my Ibuprofen due to being pregnant. So, now I just deal with it!

Answer 6

My daughter has it and wore a retainer for a long time, finally she had to have surgery on one side. She still has days with pain when she lifts heavy stuff and when she chews too much like with steak. She had a lot of pain with this over the years and it was aggravated with a car accident. She was told that over time she may need the surgery on the other side but so far she is doing ok.

Answer 7

I have tmj I have a hard time opening my mouth I can not chew a lot of gum and sometimes when I do get my mouth open it locks open for a few minutes.

Answer 8

I know I am a being stupid and it doesn't answer your question but it is my biggest pet peeve. WE ALL HAVE TMJ!!! TMJ is short for tempero mandibular joint, which we all have. TMD is short for tempero mandibular disorder which is the disorder associated with this joint. To say you have tmj is like saying you have a knee.