how did your tmj start? - TMJ Disorder -TemporoMandibular Joint Message Board

justpancho · 03-26-2003, 12:12 AM

do you know what caused your tmj? was the pain gradual or start overnight? did you know you had clicking jaw before you ever had any problems with it? has time only made things worse?

sorry i'm just new to all of this and wondering about others who have suffered for a while.

lecach · 03-26-2003, 05:42 AM

The doctors are pretty sure mine started when I was in a car accident when I was 16. No seatbelt, my face broke the windshield. Apparently your jaw isnt thru forming when you're 16. My symptoms (didnt know they were symptoms at the time) started with jaw clicking. So loud that people could hear it. Then after about 8 years I started getting migraines. Bad ones. They sent me to a neurologist. Still got them. Finally it was figured out that I had TMJ. I had my first surgery about 6 years ago to smooth the callous on my jawbone and remove scar tissue. The next year I had scar tissue removed arthroscopically (is that a word?). Then about 4 years later (2001) I started having pain again. After an MRI they saw that my discs had slipped out of place. So last year I had surgery to shove them back in place. I am now in pain again. Im 34 now.

jladams · 03-26-2003, 07:02 AM

Mine must have actually started in childhood because I have had the popping and clicking in my jaw as far back as I can remember. But it never caused me any pain so I didnt think anything about it. As I got older I started to experience jaw fatigue...laughing, smiling, chewing, etc. But these were my only symptoms for a long time. I'm 30 now and have just recently been diagnosed with TMJD. Six months ago I got hit with 3 sinus infections back to back, accompanied with severe ear pain and fullness and migraine headaches. But I have never had an injury to my jaw.

GJA · 03-26-2003, 07:59 AM

The only problem i had was once and a while my jaw
would dislocate if i opened it really wide--I have never had pain/soreness or clicking.

-in august of 2001, i got out of bed and experienced
extreme vertigo for 20 seconds, and extreme balance
problems afterward--ear fullness/sensitivity to loud noises--the foggyness--etc.

-after multiple sessions with an ent that specializes
in dizziness/an mri/a hearing test--he and my primary
care diagnosed BPV--which usually subsides within
a year--since they said my vestibular system was
functioning normally.

--after researching my symptoms almost every day, in
May of 2002 I found this board and suspected TMD--you
see, I have never had a lot of clicking or pain---but
I clenched every day for many years--it was my bad habit--some people bite their nails, i clenched--intentionally.--I have cracked a molar and have
popped enamal off my teeth.

--as soon as i stopped clenching, all my problems
subsided, but my jaw shifted into a "forward" position and i completely lost a normal "bite".

--my years of clenching caused one problem, and
when i stopped clenching it caused another.

--my neck and jaw muscles are all out of wack.

I have many of the symptoms that most of you are
familiar with--tired jaw/ear fullness/tension at temples-behind eyes, base of neck,around and below the ear,lump in throat--and feeling of being off balance---just not as bad as when i clenched.

-g

mek918 · 03-26-2003, 08:38 AM

I was really depressed, and then had a horrible bout of the flu- I never get sick like that and was in bed for a week. I think that's when it all started.