TMJ pain and discomfort is a common ailment that affects many people, more often women than men. When the TMJ (temporal mandibular joint) is not tracking properly, a person is said to have TMJD (the D is for dysfunction), though many people commonly say, “I have TMJ.” Well, we all do. Muscle imbalances within the jaw, cranium (head), and neck can cause the TMJ to not open and/or close properly. This can result in a jaw that hurts, pops, clicks, can’t open all the way, can’t close properly, deviates or zigzags when opening or closing, or tires when chewing. TMJD affects a lot of people and may be the cause of their headaches, neck aches, irritability, fatigue, and even constantly biting of their jaw or lip. The muscle imbalances causing the problems are commonly due to past injuries to the head, neck, or jaw itself. The TMJ has an intricate influence on the rest of the body too due to the neurological connection throughout the spine. Lowerback and sacroiliac (SI) joint problems are common in those with TMJ problems. Therefore, just about anything can affect the TMJ and vice-versa. This is why someone may only have a jaw problem when they are sick – or their TMJ problems may have first started when they became sick. It is not uncommon for a TMJ issue to start once a woman has a hysterectomy or after she goes through menopause.
A jaw fatiguing during a typical meal or even chewing gum is similar to when any other muscle fatigues. Sometimes it is a direct muscle problem within the jaw, other times it is from a lack of certain nutrients that may help support those muscles.
The immune system has a strong relationship to the jaw (as mentioned above) as does blood sugar. I have seen a connection between TMJ problems and blood sugar handling problems (dysglycemia) and even tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
Often the TMJ is the symptom, and not the cause. Another great example is grinding of the teeth at night (bruxism). This is a stress problem that the person is not dealing with – it is usually not a TMJ problem (but a TMJ symptom). A night guard may keep you from destroying your teeth, but it won’t address the problem.
Do you treat TMJ?
Yes; I treat everything I discuss on my site.
I was having no jaw problems whatsoever and then yesterday, suddenly, the left side of my jaw started experiencing a lot of pain and a lot of limiting on its range of motion. I managed to pop it somehow and now I have more but still limited motion, and I’m in pretty constant pain if I move it much. There is no continued popping/cracking. Pretty sure I’m not a teeth clencher. I am genetically predisposed to diabetes and am 30 years old, though I’m not yet diabetic.
This pain sucks, and makes it difficult to eat. Ibuprofen, even at a prescription dose, seems to do little to nothing to ease the pain.
Any ideas?
Find a chiropractor who specializes in TMJ disorders.
This has been happening to me for a while now (it always pops when I eat, and sometimes when I talk), but only recently it has been painful. I could pop it in to place and it wasn’t painful anymore, but today I couldn’t and I could barely eat and I couldn’t move it past a couple inches. I can open it a lot more now, but when I extend it to almost full length, it gives a dull pain. Will it go away or should I see a doctor? Would ibuprophen work? By the way, I am a 14 year old girl who has went through menstruation.
I had my wisdom teeth on the bottom removed over a month ago and I still cannot open my jaw fully and have pain that is in my jar but radiates up to my nose on my left side when I try to open past a certain point. I have been using heat and muscle relaxers but nothing helps. I am 57 years old, female
Best to see a TMJ qualified manual therapist to help you with something like this.
The left side of my jaw will not close all the way and it is difficult and painful to eat. My doctor tried eleville, no help, now I’m on a muscle relaxer, still no help. What is my next step? This has been going on for a month.
That is something you’d want to see a therapist for (or I’d need to see personally).
im 14 is it dangerous to be having this problem at a young age?
Any age can be a problem; something definitely to have checked out.
My mouth has shifted to its original position I can’t close it …pls help what must I do?
Sorry I cannot give you personalized advice via the internet! Perhaps you are close to a practitioner I’ve certified in my techniques: https://systemshealthcare.net/find-a-practitioner/