Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome (TMJ)
Please keep in mind that before treating any condition, including Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome (TMJ), as TMS, it is vitally important to consult with your physician in order to rule out any serious medical conditions.
To learn more about TMS and to help you figure out if you have it, visit our An Introduction to TMS page and watch the video there. Some more guidance in figuring out if this approach is right for you can be found in the video at the top of our So You Think You Might Have TMS page.
Contents
TMJ In TMS Books
On pages 78-79 of The Mindbody Prescription, John Sarno writes
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"The TMJ syndrome produces pain in the muscles of the jaw that most dentists attribute to abnormalities in the temporomandibular (jaw) joint. I have found that what is going on in the jaw muscles is similar to the TMS process in the back. Joint abnormalities are the result rather than the cause of the symptoms." |
On page 118 of Healing Back Pain, John Sarno writes
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"I...am strongly inclined to think that it is similar in cause to tension headache and TMS. TMS patients who come in for neck and shoulder pain frequently give a history of TMS, and the jaw muscle is tender to palpation, just like the shoulder, back and buttock muscles." |
TMJ and TMS Success Stories
Read Roxygirl's inspiring post about how she became pain free after suffering from TMJ, severe neck pain and back pain.
Roxygirl went through some real ups and downs before finally writing her success story. If you go through similar ups and downs, you might want to read about them, to help give you strength (just remember to read the success story first, so you know it all has a happy ending!). Some of her most notable posts are (ordered chronologically):
- question on tmj 10/02/08
- so much pain... 10/8/08
- quick question... 10/26/08
- decided to quit... 11/04/08
- please help..please, anyone 11/12/08
- driving myself crazy 12/15/08
- surgery... 12/18/08
- oh yeah, one more thing... 12/19/08
- my turn 3/16/09 (her success story, also linked to above.)
TMJ as new symptom, would enjoy some support
Additional Information about TMJ and TMS
On page 118 of Healing Back Pain, Dr. Sarno writes that TMJ has traditionally been "in the dental domain" because it has been attributed to pathology of the jaw joint. He says that he hasn't yet treated TMJ directly (the book was published in (1991), but is "strongly inclined to think that it is similar in cause to tension headache and TMS." To support this, he mentions that "TMS patients who come in for neck and shoulder pain frequently give a history of TMJ, and the jaw muscle is tender to palpitation, just like the shoulder, back and buttock muscles."
When describing psychosomatic medicine in The Divided Mind (published in 2006), he lists 13 specific soft tissue disorders that are blamed for the pain of TMS. One of the disorders is, "Pain and other dental abnormalities (temporomandibular joint disorder [TMS]) that are most likely due to TMS in jaw muscles."
TMJ is also discussed in a TMSHelp forum entitled "Need some proof that tmj is tms. PLEASE HELP!!!"
Other TMJ and TMS pages:
- Neck Pain
- Shoulder Pain
- Tooth Pain
- Master list of Success Stories by Symptoms & Diagnoses
About editing Symptoms & Diagnoses pages.
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