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TMJ causing headaches --- Anyone?

Posted by wbc @wbc, 4 days ago

I have had a rehabilitating headache for over 12 years now. I've been to three university's neurologists and scores of others The latest diagnosis is chronic migraine, Doctors tell me that i have give the drugs and therapies more time to give me relief. I am scheduled for more Botox in October. Last May i had a series of MRIs and although no doctor picked up on this, i saw in the report "Severe TMJ left side." My research shows that TMJ can cause headaches. Paying attention to that possibility, i notice that my left side jaw clicks or pops with almost every chew. Even opening my mouth to insert a toothbrush causes a pop. One must eat and doing that chewing happens several times a day. This may account to the fact that the headaches are constant and never stop. I am now wearing a dental appliance which my dentist says should help. I also am into physical therapy for TMJ. No help yet. Migraine Caps that stay in the freezer until i wear one is the only significant relief i have found. The pain returns upon removal. Have any of you encountered headaches attributable to TMJ? What relief have you found?

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lindalou2468 | @lindalou2468 | 1 day ago

I had TMJ and was having headaches. My dentist identified it, sent me to an orthodontist to confirm. They realigned my teeth with braces, then I wore a night splint. No more pain, no more problems.

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wbc | @wbc | 1 day ago
In reply to @lindalou2468 "I had TMJ and was having headaches. My dentist identified it, sent me to an orthodontist..." + (show)
Profile picture for lindalou2468 @lindalou2468

I had TMJ and was having headaches. My dentist identified it, sent me to an orthodontist to confirm. They realigned my teeth with braces, then I wore a night splint. No more pain, no more problems.

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@lindalou2468 That's awesome Linda. I'll be seeing my dentist and bring this up ASAP. My regular dentist referred me to another dentist who provided me with a three part dental appliance that sits on my lower teeth, just about all the time. All i can see that it does is to keep my lower teeth from touching the upper teeth.

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Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | 10 hours ago
In reply to @briarrose "Yes, most certainly TMJ can cause headaches without a doubt. I had severe right ear pain..." + (show)
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Yes, most certainly TMJ can cause headaches without a doubt. I had severe right ear pain for 4 months before I was properly diagnosed with TMJ...no medical professional was even looking at that. I had a brain MRI b/c of TMJ but that was for ruling out a brain tumor.
My friend was out for dinner, with her husband enjoying her meal, and suddenly she could not close her mouth. Very frightening. She directed me to her dentist. My feeling is you need to see a specialist in TMJ disorder. Not a general or family dentist. I had a very involved work up with her for evaluation. And then was fitted with a dental appliance unlike I had never seen. Very difficult to get use to at first...wearing it at bedtime only. The top and bottom are "connected" and once in your mouth you literally can not open your mouth at all. When they first placed it in at the office, I felt panic which they understood completely. It's a scary feeling but you do get use to it. I wore this for 1 year and gradually my mouth/jaw was able to open bigger and bigger and the right ear pain vanished. And it was expensive. I now have Invisalign liners from my general dentist. I have an very bad overbite and my 2 front teeth were sifting. I can see my teeth already moving in the right direction and hope this will keep the TMJ pain at bay. Also I found heat to be better than cold for TMJ/ear pain. I know folks who wear their TMJ appliance for the rest of their lives. I am giving Invisalign a try and so far so good.
Best of luck to you!

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@briarrose I am seeing a dentist who is a TMJ specialist and have appliances for upper and lower that are now connected by a rubber band. They have screws for expansion to widen both upper and lower jaws and the addition of the rubber band is new to try to pull the upper jaw on one side to a more correct and forward position. The joint space for the disc in the jaw is critical to maintain, and I am lucky that mine is OK there. This is a lot of stuff to have in your mouth, and I do wear it every night. My jaw is expanding and my teeth are finding more room to exist and that is softening some overlapping of the lower teeth. Apparently when I was a kid, an orthodontist created some of this problem in my jaws by pulling my teeth and jaw backward to try to make more room for them.

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