Is your TMJ Pain affecting your school or job? - TMJ Disorder -TemporoMandibular Joint Message Board

SJustice1621 · 07-26-2007, 05:32 PM

Is anyone here having difficulties with their job, school etc.?

I myself am 26 and started having TMJ problems at 20. I was a Pre-med major and still am. My whole life since then has been affected by my health. I've had to drop out of school 3 times, and im a senior still trying to graduate, I've worked through periods of my time in school. It's upsetting because I've always been an active person, outgoing and did well academically; a lot of my close family and friends understandably don't understand how much pain I go through throughout the day. They feel that im just lazy, not trying and just depressed...it really hurts because I don't really know how to explain it to them, and there are some minor cases of TMJ that goes away and major cases of TMJ that sometimes surgery can only fix. With me my pain has progressed to my upper and lower back, neck, shoulders, chest, and even right arm. It's just so painful it's hard to do anything, but I still try. I feel like I have to hide it though because it's just so difficult to explain.

Can anyone give me some advice on how to get support from your family, friends dealing with TMJ? Or give me some of your own personal stories/dealings with TMJ and how it has affected your lives. Most of my family just believes it's a headache and believe the rest of the symptoms are only somatic.

sunflower22 · 07-26-2007, 07:47 PM

I know how you feel. It's no fun to be in pain. You need to just explan to your family and Friends about TMJ. So they understand it more and what you are going through. And some people say the pain is all in your head when it's not. I also have TMJ myself and it's no fun. Some people just don't understand and if there were in our shoes mabe they would. The on;ly peole that understand my TMJ are my co-workers cause I work for a dentist and lot of them have TMJ. and I am only 25. It's hard to figure out what cause it in the frist place.

Thelma-Louise · 07-26-2007, 08:41 PM

I doubt anyone other tmj sufferers and specialists that treat it will understand what this can do to a person - you can try explaining it to them, there are even books you can buy - but its hard to explain how widespread the symptoms can become or their affects on the body and mind in general. I haven't been able to work for 3 years now and was an Acctg Mgr in a large faced paced co for many years and this just stopped me in my tracks -not just career wise but in my personal life as well. You may want to search some chiropractic web sites that explain what happens to the spine when the neck and jaw, which share the same muscles and work together, no longer do so - a lot of physical structural changes can occur as a result creating or causing other physical ailments and/or conditions and subsequently affecting the central nervous system and brain. So while some people with tmj only have jaw and face pain or headaches, for others, the pain radiates to other parts of the body and they develop symptoms not commonly associated with tmj. Some drs refer to this as TMD, not tmj - since the symptoms are not limited to a tm joint problem but produce similar symptoms causing widespread muculoskeletal dysfunction. Maybe giving it a different name other than tmj and using some big words they don't understand will help. Its sad but most people think tmj is just a dull ear ache, frequent headaches and sinus or jaw pain.

kvtip · 07-26-2007, 08:50 PM

I graduated HS a year ago and had to take this year off due to my TMJ pain, which had started around the end of my sophomore year, it greatly affected my school work and performance

alorcoy · 07-29-2007, 07:04 PM

Oh, I so remember the days laying on the bathroom floor at work because of the head pain and dizziness that made me think I was going to vomit. While I have kept the same job, I know that my TMD really affected my performance for about three years. Now I'm being treated with a neuromuscular orthotic, use a TENS unit regularlary and see an acupunturist and a chiro. I am on a path of recovery, I feel, but I still have many bad days and sometimes can't help but call in sick because of the crummy feelings. My bosses have been as understanding as someone who doesn't know much about TMD can be. Earlier this year, when things got really bad, I had to take two weeks disability. It was really hard not only because I was in pain, but because I felt like my coworkers didn't understand and thought I was "faking."

I feel like I have put off a lot of things ... having kids, graduate school, etc. because of the pain. Now that I'm learning to manage with help of things like hot packs and the TENS unit, I feel like I am ready to take on a little more. But, I know it took a long time for things to get so bad with my TMD, so it will take a long time to make them better.

It is cliche, but taking things day by day is the best way to approach life for me. If I think too far ahead I get overwhelmed wondering how I'll deal with the pain plus the things I want to accomplish.

(My jaw is pushed up on the left side squeezing the disc. Most of my pain was on the right and was muscular until I began treatment, now it has shifted more to the left, where the injury actually is).