The thread for young people with TMJ

[baseballguy]

Hi!

I injured my jaw eating. My jaw slipped sideways when I ate a cough drop and I have had bad jaw pains and all the symptoms typical for TMJ for 1,5 years now and they never seem to go away. In the beginning I thought they would but now I have realized probably they wont go away and there is no good way to fix it. I can study almost anything and I will start to study in the fall but I absolutely don't feel enthusiastic because sometimes my jaw just lock itself and I can not talk at all and everyone will believe I am a psycho. And my parents believe I have developed into a psycho even though I tell them about all the problems I have and I were completely normal before I injured my jaw. The best dentist in my town say his neck pops when he goes jogging and therefore I should not care if my jaw pop every time I say one letter and if my ears sounds terribly. Doctors are incredibly rude and they say I should go to a shrink but there is no reason I should. I know a lot of people have these problems that not even doctors or family understand most of the time so it would be great if someone pretty young want to talk with me about this. Someone that understand. So we can find a good balance between living as normal as possible and still don't make our TMJD worse. And learn how to make people understand our problems.

[moderator2]

baseballguy,

Everyone uses this website anonymously. Please do not post your personal contact information. Please be sure to read over the posting rules.

[CaydenJ]

I'm sorry to hear what you're going through. I myself went through something similar from doctors telling me my symptoms were all in my head or telling me it was something it wasn't to my family thinking that I was making excuses and just too lazy to go out into the real world...... right. Are your symptoms fluctuating or has it remained static for 1.5 years?

If there's a local tmj clinic, I would suggest getting some x-rays done, but before you go, I suggest you equip yourself with some TMJ knowledge just so you don't get duped. Most dentists aren't fully aware of this joint dysfunction and treating this is fairly new and not much research has been done on it. This epidemic is fairly recent so you're not oging to get a stgraight answer or even the same answer from 2 different tmj specialists/dentists but hearing what they have to say would be a good start.

Sadly, I don't think anyone will fully understand what we're going through unless they've been there themselves. The only way is to get concrete evidence through x-rays and consults and the like.

[baseballguy]

thank you for the answer! Yeah my parents say I am lazy too even though I were as hard working as anyone could be before.
Of course the symptoms are fluctuating but I have never been totally fine for 1,5 years. Actually the first 2,5 months was pretty OK but then it got worse. I have not been able to say one letter for 13 months without my jaw popping and I am just worried eventually the discs will be totally worn out. The terrible thing is that talking make it worse. Actuallt mostly I can eat and it dont pop when I eat mostly but always when I speak.

I have been to ear and jaw specialists where I live and they say "just live like normal and stop worrying." But sometimes I get really dizzy, this have given me tinnitus, locked ears, when I move my head it sounds like you slam a door and the same when I swallow. Sometimes my face start moving without doing anything and much, much more. How can I go to a university and live like normal when suddenly my jaw locks. People will not exactly see me as normal then.

[temera2]

hey honey,

Firstly welcome to the tmj board!!!

i am also a young person with tmj , i am twenty , turning twenty one in the next 6 months however my jaw has never locked and all the symptoms you have i dont have. If you read my other posts i suffer tremendously with earaches. Do you also have these?

You're medical practitioners sound horrible. No one has ever doubted my pain but they all believe i have a low pain threshold .. very easy for them to say! I wont go into my whole history of tmj as i have that in my other posts but basically i developed tmj when was 14 went on for two years , vanished by itself then began January 2007 until present. I am on splint therapy , upper and lower for almost a year now.

I had a jaw displacement which the splint fixed but now i have muscle spasms which cause earaches.. so frustrating!!! But i would like to know if you also have earaches?

Because i suffer incredibly from them! Tell me more about how you're symptoms are and tell you're parents NO you are not crazy and show them websites regarding tmj!!!

Hope to hear from you soon and once again welcome!