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In Reply to: Pregnancy and TMJ PLEASE HELP posted by Jeanne on December 11, 2000 at 14:13:00:
: I am 27 weeks pregnant and have had alot of pain, teeth, face, ear, headaches, neck, shoulder. Dentist said to have my wisdom tooth out but could only do with novacaine so I chickened out, pain got worse so went to have it out, oral surgeon said it was not my wisdom tooth causing the pain, but didn't check for TMJ, went to family doctor he said TMJ, OBGYN won't let me take anything except tylenol and tylenol with codine, neither work at all. Then went to ENT, he said its TMJ, but nothing I can do, both said it will just go away, is this true? Is it just a pregnancy thing? I can not eat or sleep and the pain is unbearable, and everyone thinks I'm crazy. Can this just start like this for no reason and go away? Please HELP! What do I do now? Also the pain is not so bad in the morning but really bad at night, how could it be grinding teeth? Should I go back to the dentist?
: Thank you so much!
If no medical reason has been discovered for your pain, then you are possibly suffering from a stress-tension-pain cycle. No medication or exercise is needed, if you can figure out what you do under stress. If you tighten muscles (tension) when excited, worried, angry, or sad or when doing certain activities like talking on the phone or washing dishes, you are causing your own pain. When stress increases, tension increases, and pain or other ailments worsen for those of us who respond to stress with tension.
Have family members and friends observe how you hold or move your jaw, shoulders, head muscles, etc. when upset or uptight. Check to see if your upper and lower teeth are in contact when you are "resting." Are you chewing with more pressure than necessary and with teeth touching? Teeth never need to touch. A relaxed jaw is dropped open slightly; the mouth is closed by lips touching (should be gently), not teeth touching.
The muscles that hurt are the ones involved in your stress-tension-pain pattern, if this all applies to you. Try to loosen those muscles, thereby allowing blood flow to increase and pain to release. Try to keep the muscles loose (relaxed). Try to catch yourself holding muscles tightly during various situations. Learn to divorce stress from tension by breaking your pattern. When under stress, don't tighten up.
As you learn to loosen the involved muscles, you will feel all kinds of sensations (tingling, heat, cold, spasm, numbness wearing off, tickling, itching, temporary pain, etc.) Let these feelings happen and be amazed at what happens as muscles learn to relax instead of tighten. You may even "feel" tense when relaxed. Our bodies become conditioned to the things we do to them habitually, and the feelings that occur become perceived as normal.
Unfortunately, it has been only recently that someone determined how stress-tension-pain patterns become established and what it takes to eliminate them. Finally, people can be taught to relax. So many people are told to relax but not how. I hope this information helps. If you think this is on the right track, then please recognize that any pain medication will serve only to hide your symptoms. Let your pain tell you what you are doing to yourself. Pain has a purpose. Use it. Enjoy the holidays! Karen
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