Please visit TMJ HOPE, they have a website and facebook page. It will give tips on home care.
I would highly recommend seeking out a university dental school with an oral/maxiofacial department. It sounds like you have TMJ and need to be looked at..

Thank you for your reply floridakris but I already know that I have TMJ due to osteoarthritis and i've already been on that website.

I have something you can try for free. Contact me @ cwaller@temporthotics.com I will send you a complimentary sample to try. I hate to hear that you are hurting and I was where you are now. People look at you like you have some unknown disease......email me. :)

I was told my docs that they would not even consider helping me until I saw a psychiatrist for a mental health evaluation..........it sucks that no one believed me. Now that I have proof in hands, that I paid for, now they have decided to believe me. I'm angry, actually no I'm PISSED and it's wrong what your docs are doing. I do know how you feel:(

Also to let you know, SSRI's(antidepressants) have been indicated in chronic pain, they seem to give quite a few people good results. I was on them for a few months and they really did help my pain, but I'm the unlucky one that had an allergic reaction so now I'm having to try something different. Please try and look SSRI's in chronic pain. If you need I can find some studies for you.

I do know what you are going through.

For one, I want to give you a BUG HUG for your frustration. I can not BELIEVE you got played like that. I can't believe that after all this time, doctors are still dumb on the TMJ problem that MILLIONS of people are SUFFERING with.

Are you seeing a doctor or a DENTIST? Most doctors dont have a clue because thats not their field of expertise. You need to see a doctor that does. Your wasting your time with that doctor..I probably would have had a meltdown right in that office when he suggested Tylenol! >:O

I flew half way acrossed the world to see a TMJ specialist that is both a doctor AND a dentist and only specializes in TMJ. I tried so hard here at home to find help but the dentists blew me off and my docs blew off, so I had to take action myself.
Yeah I'm angry at how I've been treated and I now actually need a therapist after this whole mess. I've also filed complaints, but in the end it's TMJ...........the step child of both the dental and medical arena so I just have to get up each day to try and help myself.

I CAN RELATE SO MUCH! I have had doctors blow me off, minimize my pain and tell me to go see a freaking therapist. It makes me feel like punching them in the face!! For real!

First off, find a good pain doctor. You need painkillers to enable you to jump through the hoops in order to even START treating your condition. Try checking out the american board of pain medicine. At a BARE MINIMUM you should get vicodin. I get 10mg of percocet once a day and its still not enough....

Try and get exercise too if you can. I lift weights a few days a week. It helps with my overall mood and attitude. Increases my pain threshold too.

Kava and Kratom are herbs that can help quite a bit too. Kava helps relax your muscles and chill you out. Kratom is a painkiller that has kind of an opiate effect.

Anything to help oxygenate you and increase your bloodflow helps too. Taking baths, heat compresses, yoga, pranayama.. these will all help. I try to stretch my neck out as much as possible to help more blood/oxygen get to the tissues.

Seeing a neuromuscular dentist helped me a lot. He told me, in order to get a permanent fix, I had to get braces. I'm 5-6 months in and haven't been cured yet... crossing my fingers.

Good luck. I know what you're going through... sucks.