# TMJ?



## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

I know that among the Fibro/CFS community, it is very common to suffer with TMJ. I'm in a particularly bad flare of mine. It started Sunday, and I couldn't chew any food. I called my doctor Monday, and they instructed me to take 3 Advil, 3 times a day, and call back if it didn't work. Well, it's late Thursday night, and no dice. Still major pain. I'm afraid my doctor will recommend something that Medicare doesn't cover. (Like a mouth plate to be worn at night, etc)So just in case, what are your "home remedy" techniques to deal with this particularly annoying aspect of Fibro/CFS?


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## Susan Purry (Nov 6, 2001)

Anything that will relax your muscles. I'll PM you a link to my dental surgery which has an advice sheet on TMJ problems & an exercise to do to release tension in the jaw-joint (don't want to post it here as it reveals where I live). You can also rotate your shoulders a few times forward and back, and sitting straight, move your head to the right and then left, so your ears move down towards your shoulder. Do it all gently. Maybe a medication (see my recent thread on muscle relaxants)? Alternating warmth and heat?It's such a nuisance, I feel for you.


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## Clair (Sep 16, 2000)

Sorry to hear your suffering MrsM hope you feel better real soon  OK now I'm going to ask a stupid question, what exactly is TMJ and how do you know if you have it? I have been having weird one sided headaches on and off for two years now and sometimes the pain seems to leap down the nerves, almost through my teeth and ache the side of my jaw and my dentist say its nothing wrong with my teeth and my specialist can come up with no answer for why it happens either. It is most peculiar and painful and I wonder if its similar to this TMJ you talk of.Anyway, rambling and getting away from the point of things, I don't have any advice apart from perhaps use perhaps a warm compress against it, but I do pray you feel better tomorrow or really soon xxxxClair


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## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

Well, I've given up the fight and made an appointment with the dentist for Tuesday at 2 pm. I have my fingers crossed that I'll feel better before then, and will be able to cancel the appointment.







Clair, here's a link to a site with good TMJ information: tmj.org Different people have different symptoms with it, from what I understand. Some common symptoms are clicking and/or cracking and/or popping of the actual jaw joint, jaw getting "stuck" open, or "stuck" closed, stabbing pain in the ear, pain down one side of the face and/or neck, headaches, and the list goes on and on. Hopefully that site will answer most of your questions. With Fibro/CFS it's hard to separate and distinguish what's going on in our bodies, isn't it?


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## Clair (Sep 16, 2000)

MrsM Good Luck for Tuesday







here's hoping you don't have to go though!Thanks for the link - sounds like I'm a member of this exclusive club too







lol although the symptoms listed on the link you posted do seem to be very similar to FMS/CFS. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you, I'm also off to the dentist next week!((((Hugs))))Clair


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