TMJ Support Group

yes i have all the symptoms you speak of. your on a journey to finding answers and im sorry but its a long journey. i would like to give you two specialist i think you start with. A neuromuscular dentist and a neuroTologist/ Otologist. They specialize in the inner ear.

Good luck with everything

Ear pain was my very first symptom and still persists to this day. I wish I could say there is a clear path to treatment, but unfortunately there is not.
TMJ HOPE is a great website to start look and reading articles on how to help yourself and the types of treatments available. I would say that you really need to research before starting any type of treatment, there are many different thoughts on how to fix this but no hard core studies to show which ones work good.
The good news is that a lot of people do get better and can manage there symptoms well with self care or a nightguard. But again, do lots of research.

Thank you for your suggestions. I know a night guard would not work for me because I sleep with my mouth open. I actually have sleep apnea and have to use a full face mask because of sleeping with my mouth open.

I'm afraid any specialists won't accept my insurance. I'm on disability and have insurance through the state. I got referrals to two 'TMJ specialists' from my ENT so I'm waiting to find out if they will be covered.

I have been dealing with these symptoms for SO long and they just continue to get worse. I would do anything for some relief!

Stacy have you looked into a University Dental school? Sometimes Universities will do a sliding fee scale or they may take your insurance if it's a public University. I would look for a dental school that has an oral/maxiofacial unit to it.
Have you talked with your doc about pain management? About the splint, I think I've heard of others with sleep apnea using a splint, so it might be worth researching.....I'm not an expert and don't have sleep apnea though.
I do know how hard this problem is:(

I have severe ear ache, tension in my left ear

I definitely have vertigo from TMJ/TMD, and ringing in the ears.
And absolutely have to pop my jaw back into place every day.
There's lots more symptoms I have, weird feelings in the ear and across the face, too.

Not much advice on treatment yet.

Personally trying to stick with massaging the muscles around the ear aggressively, and lightly under the cheek.
Both make my left ear sort of "itch" inside.
I actually do think it's helping.

It took years for the docs to figure out what is wrong with me. I was misdiagnosed with different things from benign vertigo to migraines. It's good to finally know what is wrong with me. After reading the symptom list on tmjhope.com I am positive this diagnosis is the right one. The problem is my insurance won't even cover a visit to a TMJ specialist.
My doctor gave me promethazine for the nausea. It seems to help when it is mild, but nothing helps when it gets really bad.
@hotdogdog... I get pain in my face and ears too. What to you mean by aggressive massage? Can you describe how to do that?? I will try anything..... and does it help with the pain or nausea or both??

I also have TMJ and vertigo and have all the symptoms you mentioned. ear ached because my jaw bone was pushing on my inner ear. I didn't know I had jaw locking until I started getting treatments for TMJ.

Unfortunately my insurance does not cover me going to see a TMJ specialist so I don't know of any way to find relief. I feel pretty beat down by my symptoms. The nausea and dizziness knocks me on my ass. I just can't do anything.

Stacy,

I made a Youtube video for my patients that explains why patients with TMJ often experience Ear Symptoms. You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjSl...

The facial anatomy and tooth position (bad bite) pathologies that causes TMJ are also a factor in causing Sleep Apnea. That is why 65% of all paitents with TMJ also experience some form of sleep disordered breathing. I made a Youtube video for my TMJ patients who also have Sleep Apnea that you can watch here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NIw...

There are a number of other very informative videos for patients with TMJ on The Dr. Tamura Youtube channel that you may find helpful here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DrScott...

Lastly if you haven't seen my most recent DS post about the new reality web series "Journey to Healing", that focuses on a single mother from LA who searches for a diagnosis and treatment for the severe ear/headache/migraine she suffers from TMJ, you can see the DS Blog Post here:

http://www.dailystrength.org/health...

Good Luck,

Scott L. Tamura DMD, LVIF
Daily Strength TMJ Expert