I saw the post from Mary earlier today about TMJ, I was just diagnosed with it. The pain is comparable to labor pains. The dentist wants me to take muscle relaxer at night for a couple of weeks, then let him know if that doesn't work and he'll fit me for a mouth guard. Don't think I can wait a couple of days, let alone a couple of weeks. I there anything that helped anyone with the pain? Ibuprofen doesn't touch it, can't take prescription painkillers during the day, I have to work but how??

I suffered from this(tmj) almost 18 years ago. I could barely open my mouth to eat. I went to the dentist, that is in practice still today. This was what he said to me. What ever it is or whomever it is that is causing you to tense up like this let it go, I can fit you with a very expensive mouth piece. or you can deal with your problems so that you stop tensing up at night and clenching your jaws. He also told me that If I did not stop this I could break my teeth off. His suggestion was for me to go by a sports mouth piece and fit myself. Well I took his advice and I sat down and worked on my problems. I did not get him to fit me a mouth piece nor did I buy one from a sports store. I started working on my problems and I continue to do so! I do not know if tmj can be caused by something other than stress. This is just the advice I was given and it worked for me. :) peace

TMJ can be caused by MANY things other than stress. Many physical injuries, whiplash for one, can be a cause of TMJ.

I, too, was slammed with an acute attack of TMJ a few months ago. There was no help and no relief from any source. I called the Dr. every day for a week begging for help; I thought I would go insane from the pain. After researching on the internet, just happened to see a post from someone who had gotten relief from a massage therapist. I found a massage therapist who specializes in deep tissue massage, and got my first few minutes of relief after the first session. The massage is painful, but nothing compared to the pain of TMJ. On the pain scale of 1-10, I was an 11 when I walked in her door. She said I had the worst case of TMJ she had ever seen. (That wasn't news to me! ) Within a month, I was eating most things and while I still have some pain and am still working on emotional issues, I have not had an attack of the acute burning pain since about a month after I started seeing her.

I have suffered from TMJ since my early teens and all through my adult life. For me, believe-it-or-not it started when I was jutting my jaw out in order to enable me to play really low notes on the tuba. My mom also noticed that I would grind my teeth while I slept at night. The reason for the grinding, I'm not sure. Maybe it was to try to get relief from the pain.

Although it isn't good for relief from the TMJ or the wearing away of my jaw bones, I can play tunes from my mouth using the clicking sounds of my jaw! Many times when I would eat with friends when I was younger, there would be audible clicks from my jaw that would cause embarrassment to me. It is not so much that way now, for reasons I will explain below.

I know all about the pain. My TMJ started on the right side of my jaw where the TMJ is most severe. I also have some TMJ on the left side of my jaw. Massaging the muscles in the area has helped with the pain. Also, putting my lower jaw back as far as I can for periods has given me some relief. I have tended to lead a stress filled life. I am sure that has not helped with the TMJ. I also don't eat on the side of my mouth where I have TMJ the most. This helps a lot for there to be less pain. Have been doing that for many years. I also know, that for some people who have wisdom teeth that are impacted and don't have them pulled out, that this can be a contributing factor for TMJ to occur.

I wasn't about to quit playing the tuba because I was good at it, and enjoyed it so much in spite of the pain. But, almost right after college while in my early twenties, I decided to quit playing the tuba and focus on playing other instruments where I didn't have to use my mouth so much in a pressure sort of way that would alter the natural positioning of my jaws.

The good news is, that after about twenty-five years of not playing the tuba, and being on meds for a number of those years to combat stress and depression, I have found the pain of the TMJ to be much less. Also, because the bone structure of my head and jaws has changed enough as I have gotten older, the pain has subsided considerably and there is not nearly the amount of clicking in my jaws happening. I have even found that I can play the tuba again!

I apologize for giving somewhat of a life's story in my post about TMJ. But, that has been the way that I have experienced the condition. I also want to support the fact that there can be many causes of TMJ; that there are ways to get relief from the pain; and, that things can get better with time.

I went to an orthodontist, had headgear, brace and my alignment of my jaw got messed up. Corrective jaw surgery stopped my pain.