Well, apparently, after three days of annoying and painful jaw pain that felt like it was going to make my ear bleed, I've been told that I dislocated my jaw. It may or may not have completely gone back into place, so I have to get it re evaluated tomorrow. I already had tmj affecting the right side of my jaw, making it pop and crack like a knuckle if I yawned or opened my mouth widely. This time, it's the healthy non affected side that is the problem. I can't actually close my back teeth on the left side without a strange maneuver and excruciating pain. This makes trying to eat really difficult! I've been a soup baby today, after last night's dinner practically having me in tears trying to chew. Anyone else familiar with this? I'm stressing as it's just one more thing to add to the pile and my dentist of course had to chose this and next week to be on vacation. I have to see one of the hygenists and hope to heck that they figure it out.

I've never had a dislocated jaw and can't imagine what that feels like, but when I had braces there were some pretty painful days there! Every couple weeks after getting them tightened I wouldn't be able to eat anything solid cause it was so painful! My jaw was being re-aligned slowly along with the teeth. Hang in there! Try out some smoothies for variety.

How did it go? Hope you're feeling better...I'll bet you're on pain killers and muscle relaxants to get your TMJ disc back into place...

Let us know what happened!

Kira

I went to my dentist this morning, and my jaw popped itself back in on its own, but I have to go to a tmj specialist for fitting for a bite plate and therapy. I'm not on anything for the pain, which in my world is normal as I'm allergic to pretty much anything but tylenol, but it sucks! It feels constantly like a pinched nerve/pulled muscle from my ear, all the way through my jaw and down the side of my neck. I'm not allowed any fun foods, only soft squishy stuff and liquids from anywhere from a few days up to possibly 6 to 8 weeks, pending what the specialist says. I apparently need to give the tendons muscles etc time to heal. Also no singing in the car/singing at all, no yelling, excessive talking, etc. Ugh! I'm a musician and champion car singer! I guess, if anything, it's a forced diet! I love Arbonne shakes (Especially the chai!), but I know I'm not alone in this feeling of missing chewing! *Crosses fingers* I hope this heals quickly!

You'll get through this. Your tendon holding your disc in place is stretched, which is why things are sore. An anti-inflammatory would have been a good idea because if you can reduce the swelling in your joint, you will heal faster...keep on the soft food, and see the specialist soon!


Kira

I can totally understand what your feeling! i had TMJ for about 2 months,couldnt close my jaw and had to go on a totally liquid/mush diet. soup with severly soggy bread and rice pudding. was not fun was one of the worst pains ive ever experienced! my heart goes out to you!

Lilbert - actually everyone has TMJ - its the name of the joint sorry I work in the dental profession Its called TMD when you have issues with it.

Feather - I'm sorry this happened to you! It sucks! I had this happen to me too earlier this year, and it was so annoying to not be able to close my mouth. One thing to do, if you can, chew on the side that was 'dislocated'. Ice can help, and my former boss who was a TMJ specialist would suggest a "cold, hot, stretch". You ice it, then use a heating pad, and then gently stretch your mouth open. I did that earlier this year, and that helped a lot. Also taking anti inflammatory meds can help - ibuprofen if you can take it. And just automatically taking it every 4 to 6 hours is best - even if you aren't in pain at that 6 hour mark.

Getting a properly fitted bite guard can help. The one boss I worked for made excellent bite guards, and I'm holding on to the one he made me as long as possible.

When this happened to me earlier this year, it actually helped me lose a few lbs. I had to eat really slowly, and chew my food carefully - and would actually feel full sooner. I still ate most regular food, just made sure to not bite into anything I had to open super wide for - like a sub or apple etc. I cut everything up really small, and just ate less because I felt full because I was eating really slowly.

And yeah, it can take a few months to heal. When I talked to my current boss about it - though I knew there wasn't anything he could really do at that point - he said it can take up to 8 weeks or more to heal. And it did take just about 8 to 12 weeks for it to feel normal again.

Hope you feel better soon!

Feather - I suffered from jaw problems like this when I was a kid. My jaw would lock and pop all the time. I would try to take a bite of something like a sandwich and it would just lock in place. The pain was over the top and I would often throw my food on my plate and just cry. It was so frustrating. I had jaw surgery when I was 15 years old to correct it (I'm 32 now). It was rough because my mouth was wired shut for 6 weeks (5 weeks and 6 days, to be exact!) and I could only drink through a straw but I'll tell you what - it was the best thing I ever did! The recovery was a bare, working to get my mouth to open again was painful, and boy was my breath bad when it was all said and done but I have not had problems like that since. I still get a tired jaw sometimes but that's way better than the alternative. I also had permanent nerve damage in my chin and lip (it always feels numb, like after you go to the dentist and get a cavity filled) but over the years it has become something I just learned to live with and I hardly think about it anymore. I appreciate your pain and am sorry you are going through this. I can't imagine what I would do as an adult to fix the problem. It was hard as a teen but there's probably no better time to go through something like that then when you are young because having braces and your mouth wired shut as an adult would really stink! Good luck with your treatment. I hope it brings you relief to this very painful problem!

I understand where you're coming from; except for the dislocated jaw. I was diagnosed with TMJ when I was like 10. Since then the pain has gotten severe since I had surgery on my liver when I was 16 (about 2 years ago) and a few months after that I had my wisdom teeth removed. I can only get the surgery because all the doctors say the guards won't help; but I'm going to try massage, muscle relaxers, and a mostly liquid based diet, with some solid food meals. I know the pain is horrible, but I actually have pain killers. That's horrible that you can only take Tylenol! I wouldn't survive! Good Luck to you, I hope you have a speedy recovery!