Help - TMJ

Hello

I'm on day 10 of the structured program but I'm having some doubts. I am not feeling any better and I'm on vacation right now so I can't follow the program daily, but I've beeb doing it when I can. My biggest doubt though is regarding TMJ, which is my main concern (neck pain, headaches, ear pressure, tinnitus). I wore braces for the second time in my life a year ago where the symptoms started to get worse (I've had them for 4 years previously, then they got worse a year ago). I then started treament for TMJ with functional appliances and had been doing so for about 8 months, with little improvement. The thing is my bite is all messed up since I was in the middle of the treatment to fix it and now I don't know what to do regarding that: I want to stop using the appliance to embrace TMS treatment but my jaw is deviated to the side and my bite feels all wrong, so I would need to keep wearing an appliance to fix that because it's very uncomfortable to chew and the aesthetics bother me a lot. What do I do? Will the appliance use get in the way of TMS? How can I address both things at the same time?

 

Gosh, that's a chicken or egg question, isn't it, loudc? Which is really common in this work!

I don't think you need to spend the rest of your life with a misaligned bite, whether it's for comfort OR aesthetics. After all, we live a LOT longer now than our teeth were designed for, so you've got to take care of that.

AND, learning to overcome your symptoms with TMS theory involves changing your mind about everything - learning a whole new way of thinking about pain and other symptoms - learning to think psychologically instead of physically.

So you're fixing your bite - that doesn't mean that you have to let your brain be in charge of your symptoms. The symptoms are constructs of your brain, and YOU can be in charge of what you experience. I've used mind-over-body techniques to convince my brain that I don't have pain when I'm being drilled on at the dentist. I do that by telling my brain that I'm in good hands, I'm perfectly safe, and there is no reason to send me any pain signals.

You can do the same. I'm pretty sure that you don't need to have TMJ pain or headaches just because you're straightening your teeth! Keep working on the psychological and tell your brain to let go of the physical. If you can't do the SEP every day, read Dr. Sarno's twelve reminders every day, or read a chapter from something new (one of Dr. Sarno's other books, or Steve O's book, or Claire Weekes, or any number of wonderful books mentioned on this forum).

Good luck - maybe someone else has some advice to add!

~Jan

 

Hi, loudc. Jan has given you the advice I would. Your symptoms are common in TMS and you have to believe 100 percent that your emotions are causing the pain. But go ahead and keep using the appliances if you think they will help your jaw, but make your belief in TMS the main thing. As for tinnitus, I've had it for many years. Most of the time, I just ignore it and don't hear the ringing.

Hi also to Jan and wishing you and all a Happy New Year!