NWR - TMJ! Anyone have it and know how to relieve ear and jaw pain from it?

At the risk of sounding hokey....acupuncture is the only thing that gave me immediate relief. And it never came back.

I actually don't even have muscle on one side of my jaw because of issues with TMJ and the way my jaw sits. The only thing that helps is ibuprofen and a laying that side of my face on a heating pad

You need to get a mouth guard. Massage therapy also helps.

@mmb that's interesting. I've never tried acupuncture. I will have to now because this shit sucks!!

I went to a TMJ specialist when I suffered from it. I tried night guards, physical therapy, muscle relaxers, and life style changes. The life style changes probably helped the most. Stop eating hard foods like pretzels. Try not to open your mouth too wide when you yawn. I suggest seeing a specialist, but those are some things I tried.

@sam is yours completely gone?

The night guards they sell OTC aren't that great - I finally got one through my Dentist. They're expensive, but it works so much better, way more comfortable. I wear mine every night because mine was so bad and I wore my canines almost to shreds.

@OP, It's not completely gone, but it has drastically improved. I use to wake up with my jaw completely locked every other day. Over time I managed to heal my disc in my jaw and now it only locks maybe once every few months. The night guard did not work for me personally and my body is just super tolerant to medication so the muscle relaxers didn't help. A specialist can determine the root of the problem for you. Mine was that I grind my teeth at night and I just hold all my stress in tension in my jaw, so I clench my teeth when I'm stressed.

I have TMJ and it's the worst!! Stress tends to make it a million times worse so I try to do a lot of relaxing activities and meditation. I try to keep myself calm and stress free. Also acupuncture and massage therapy helped me. A friend who was a masseuse showed me a couple acupressure points in the jaw the massage when it started acting up. Those have all been enough to keep me from progressing with something like a mouth guard. My moms was so bad though she got one of the guards and it really helped her!

Go see a chiropractor

Yes, when I say mouth guard, you need one that's been done by your dentist. I didn't even know you could get them OTC.

You can, they're terrible though. A total waste of a try.

Worth the investment to get one through the dentist, and mine was covered 50% by insurance.

My brother had bad TMJ and it turned out to be caused from his gluten allergy. He doesn't eat gluten anymore and his TMJ went away. Just something to look into.

All these comments are great! I want to try them all! ANYTHING to get this to go away! I agree the OTC guards suck but I have not had a special one made by my dentist so that's worth a try too. Thanks all! Right now, until I can get to the doc, it's heating pad time!

My doctor gave me a couple stretches to do on my jaw that help to loosen the clamping muscles which hold your jaw closed.

The two that help me are:

1. Make a "home alone face" with your hands on either cheek, and gently pull down (actually it's more like use the weight of your hands on your jawline) on the edges of your jaw bones to get a gentle stretch.

2. Find something that is slightly larger than the opening of your mouth, and let your jaw close down on it. Just hold it in there (not pressing, just letting the mouth naturally close) and this will gently stretch and relax those muscles.

Thanks @anne I will try those

My TMJ has been a combination of getting my wisdom teeth pulled and my orthodontist setting my teeth in a non-optimal position when I had two sets of braces...so I have been dealing with this for about 8 years. I've tried everything. Two different types of bite guards, seeing a specialist dentist to try to align my jaw to its most natural position, a neurologist. The longest term results I've had is from taking an extremely low dose of klonipan (like the lowest that they make) since it's a low grade muscle relaxer but it never made me feel like I was loopy on them. Ice packs help bring down the inflammation in the jaw and make sure you sleep on your back, not your side! Good luck, I know it's miserable to deal with TMJ!

I have TMJ and still have my wisdom teeth. Mine is caused from clenching my jaw at night, and it can cause my migraines. I also have issues with it from chewing on the inside of my mouth.

The only thing that I do that helps is use a sports guard at night. I tried the ones sold as dental guards, and they were crap for me. My dentist told me to just go get a $.98 sports guard from Walmart and mold it for my mouth and use that.

It helps a lot, and has helped immensely. I've noticed if it wear it consistently for 6 months or so, I can usually stop using it...until life gets stressful again. :/ I hold my stress in my jaw area, so it doesn't help.

Stretching my jaw also helps, so I definitely recommend that as well.

@Wendy: If she's been having trouble with it since she was 17, I would say it's unlikely that it's a bad tooth...

Most people who have TMJ have had it diagnosed by a doctor. I've seen the degeneration of the cartilage in my jaw on the imaging they've done on mine.

@OP: I have TMD (also known as TMJ). You should definitely seek someone that specializes in TMD. TMD is not currently recognized as a specialty (like ortho or an oral surgeon), but they're working on changing that. (I am a dental hygienist and my TMD doctor is in the same office. I was very lucky!)

My jaw was positioned too far back, which caused a small overbite, but more importantly pushed the muscles together and the bone into the joint. As part of my treatment, I wore both a daytime and nighttime appliance that helped shift my jaw into the correct position over time. Mine took about 4 months. Due to shifting my jaw, I had to have braces to then move my teeth into the new correct position. This was the third time I'd had braces, so I was OVER IT, but I'd gladly do it all over again.

I used to have headaches almost daily with occasional jaw pain. I am now headache and jaw pain free. I never realized how bad my headaches were until I stopped having them. It is expensive treatment, but it is completely worth it for improved quality of life. ETA: more info