Can TMJ issues be structural?

Hi Danielle
I recently visited a doctor and he suggested that type of surgery which I am not going to do. Did you? If you did, did it help you?

 

Hi, no I never did the surgery, I wasn't convinced. I finally have a mouthguard that I can tolerate for now, while I'm coming from other angles. So I'm hopeful! Are you doing TMS work for TMJ?

 

I began digging into the causes of pain because of TMJ, migranes, yes, I have been using a mouthguard for many years, and I always wonder if my genetics had been different what would I be like, what would I want and do. Anyway, I have no idea, but it is what my therapist is leading me into, what don´t I ever express, or do, because it is hidden in the shadow (the shadow being a Jungian concept, what is it that we don´t live or express)

 

this sounds like migraine to me -- I had jaw/tmj pain before I became migraine free -- I've never had any of those symptoms ever again. I also grind and have holes in the top of all of my back teeth -- no pain whatsoever. good luck, okay?

 

I started grinding my teeth in the sleep when I was 40 yo or something like that. 2-3 years before that, I started psychotherapy sessions with someone. I was the client. We worked on a few topics and I started to feel anger as an emotion. I was not aware I had this internal anger before starting psychotherapy. At the same time with experiencing anger - I started this new habit of grinding my teeth while sleeping. I got a mouth guard, custom made, from my dentist...but I could not use it, I could not sleep with it. I continued grinding my teeth and at the same time I continued psychotherapy sessions. Plus I did a lot of self work (introspection and changing lots of things) on my own, at home. After a few years I realized that I stopped grinding my teeth. I never had that problem again.

I should mention that the things that helped me the most were/are meditation and using positive affirmations. I'm a yogi, I've been doing yoga (meditation) for 30 years. But...I started to be more regular with my daily meditations in 2014. Basically, calming the mind twice a day (in meditation, a session early in the morning and then another one in the evening) helped me relax. I was able to get rid of the anger, let go of my dramas and traumas and relax, be at peace. And the grinding stopped.

Take care.

 

Wow, How did you get migrane free?

 

That's great to hear, thanks for sharing! Interesting how the grinding didn't start for you until after you started becoming aware of the anger. Really interesting connection. Glad you were able to let it go. Gives me hope!

 

Dr. Sarno talked a lot about repressed rage, and how those of us who are sure we don't have any anger issues, definitely have this. I'm sure we can make progress with this jaw stuff. Let's keep going!

 

I suffered with it for literally decades and then found Dr. Steinberg on this website. I posted my success story in that section. Best wishes. I'm completely symptom free every day now. It was like magic for me.

 

That's great, I will look up your story!