TMJ Support Group

Temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ syndrome, is an acute or chronic inflammation of the temporomandibular joint, which connects the lower jaw to the skull. The disorder and resultant dysfunction can result in significant pain and impairment.

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floridakris 09/01/2010

Hi everyone, so I'm on this roller coaster with tmj. My symptoms always seem to change and evolve. Anyhow the newest symptom started when my jaw cracked 3 times on the left side(sounded like knuckles cracking), I called my tmj dentist and he said yes that does happen to some people with tmj and to stick with a soft diet, it has never happened again(it happened about 2 weeks ago). I do have clicking on both sides but it's not constant.
Anyhow since my jaw cracked almost every time I eat or talk my left ear starts hurting, anyone have a guess as to what this is? Could it be my discs or just muscles? I've had a cat scan done but it was long before my jaw ever cracked. My situation is also complicated by the fact that I cannot go back and see my tmj dentist because I'm currently moving to germany(we are in route now). If the problem gets to bad though I can fly back to the states if I have too. If I do that I will see Dr. Piper. I would love some thoughts on this.
Thanks, florida

deleted_user 09/02/2010

have you had surgery with dr Piper???
Have you spoken to your tmj dentist about the pain - what did they say.
I would say that it is something that cant be guessed at, but mostly definitely something has happened.

floridakris 09/03/2010

Hi Cath, no I have never had any type of tmj surgery. But I would really like to see Dr. Piper, it's just not possible right now as I just moved to germany(just got off the plane today..lol). I really do not know what to do. I really do not have pain per say, it's more of an ache and it does go away. My fear is that it will become painful.
Have you seen Dr. Piper?

deleted_user 09/03/2010

no I have never seen Dr Piper, it was just the way you worded you message I thought you had.
Have you spoken about this with your tmj dentist???

floridakris 09/04/2010

Yes I did speak with my tmj dentist and he said that some people have had their jaw crack and even though it is unusual it would not be out of the ordinary for someone having tmj problems. He did say to stay on a soft diet and see how things go. He said he would have no problems seeing me but that was just not possible before we left. We are now in germany(our 1st day) and once we get settled I am hoping to go to my doctor or an oral surgeon and see if they will do an MRI.
The weird thing with all of this is that I do not have pain per say, it's more of an ache when I eat/talk. Also when I wake up in the morning after wearing my night guard I feel great, it's when I take it out and eat/talk that it starts to ache. I am taking no medication for this problem but I am really worried that it will lead to something worse. Right now it's just one day at a time and eating soft.
I would love thoughts on what could be wrong though so that I can mention it to my doctor. I'm guessing something might be wrong with my disc, I'm just praying that if it that my body will adjust to it, who knows though.

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