# Your experience with TMJ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241 "2016-03-07T22:32:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/21 "2016-03-08T23:06:06Z")
Go to the dentist and have a mouth guard made. If you don’t, you will ruin your teeth. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/22 "2016-03-09T00:23:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I don’t smoke, but I may try an antihistamine. If that seems to help, but not enough, add a decongestant. Also, while Tylenol (acetaminophen/paracetamol) generally works best for tooth and bone pain, the anti-inflammatory properties of ibuprofen might help more. In my personal experience, Claritin (get the generic form thereof to save money-- I can’t remember the name at the moment) does the best at not making you in the least bit drowsy, but YMMV. Some people swear by the others, and of course, Benadryl is the best, but it can put you out like a light. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/23 "2016-03-09T02:23:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I wouldn’t say anything if you were looking at some other woo cure, but there are documented cases of needles breaking off under people’s skin and causing terrible infections, and also of people getting Hep C from acupuncture. It doesn’t seem worth the risk for something that is a placebo at best. This is ill-informed. My acupunturist wears gloves and no needle is ever reused. They come in packaging and get thrown away after. They swab the areas with alcohol beforehand. It’s no more dangerous than any medical procedure when you choose your practitioner carefully. There are controlled studies that indicate the effectiveness of acupuncture. More to the point, many insurers pay for it, and the VA uses it to treat pain in veterans. My doctors recommended it. There is at least some evidence that indicates it is not a placebo. Plus, it is personally insulting to say that I experienced improvement only because of a mind trick. I took physical therapy, dental interventions, ultrasound treatments, prescribed medications, and other traditional Western medical treatments. I expected all of them to work, and none of them did. I did not expect acupuncture to work, but I was desperate. It worked anyway. So, if the only reason it worked is that I’m suggestible, why didn’t I experience relief during the 3 years of medical treatments that I desperately wanted to work? It’s not a rational argument to just scream “placebo” in the face of those facts. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/24 "2016-03-09T03:12:40Z")
> [@Q.N.Jones](#): > > This is ill-informed. _Sigh_ Acupuncture is supposed to work by inserting needles into “meridians” that were theorized by people who had never autopsied a body because religion forbid it; the paths of the meridians were based on rivers that ran through China. And insurance covers a lot of “alternative and complementary” therapies for which there is no evidence. Insurance coverage means nothing. That’s all I’m going to say outside the pit, except that my original post regarding acupuncture was not directed at you, it was directed at the OP. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/25 "2016-03-09T03:36:41Z")
If I have pain and something makes it go away, I really don’t care if it’s a placebo or not. Acupuncture seems to work for a lot of people and those I know who have used it weren’t spending thousands of dollars on it, so who cares how or if or why or what? Pain relief is pain relief, no? ---
**Author:** ![moojja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@moojja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moojja)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/26 "2016-03-09T05:29:10Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > If I have pain and something makes it go away, I really don’t care if it’s a placebo or not. Acupuncture seems to work for a lot of people and those I know who have used it weren’t spending thousands of dollars on it, so who cares how or if or why or what? Pain relief is pain relief, no? I agree, for pain relief, isn’t placebo the best kind of drug? For certain type of illness i.e. pain management, sleep issues … I would be wiling to pay someone to trick my mind. The placebo effect isn’t always worthless. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/27 "2016-03-09T08:39:06Z")
I have never had sharp ear pain from my TMJ. I have had some terrible chronic (months-long) flareups, but the pain in that case I’d describe as nagging (and constant, not intermittent), alongside jaw tension which made moving my jaw difficult. MOST of the time, my symptoms are painless, just a crackling feeling in the jaw joint when I move / flex the muscles. Sometimes a sense of tension. My teeth no longer properly line up due to the shift in my bite – my premolars touch but my molars do not. When I’m outside when it’s cold, my jaw muscles become stiff and difficult to move properly, so I might start to slur my speech. For sharp pain, you might want to check for trigger points in the jaw muscles. (Explaining trigger points is lengthy, the way oversimplified version is that they are knots in a muscle where it is unable to release because the fuel required to move – calcium, magnesium – is insufficient, often in a vicious cycle because the knot reduces blood flow which would normally carry that fuel in. [This book](http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment/dp/1572243759)is one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself, though. I’ve used it not just for jaw issues, but back, foot, and leg pain too.) Trigger points are notorious for referring pain, so it hurts where the problem is not. Jaw points can cause headaches. There are several points that can cause earaches and/or jaw pain. The nice thing about the workbook is you can look it up by where the pain is, and it will direct you to which points can cause that pain. The point that acts up most often for me is in the hollow just in front of and under the ear when you open your jaw. Stick a fingertip in there and press gently but firmly in and towards the mandible. If there’s a trigger point, it will hurt like a bitch when you press it. Keep the pressure on at _least_ until that intense pain starts to fade (or until it fades completely, if you can stand it). Releasing too early can cause “rebound” pain. Really bad trigger points may need to be worked on like that 6+ times a day for some weeks to completely resolve. Also, gently opening and closing your jaw for a few repetitions can help release tension. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/28 "2016-03-09T11:52:40Z")
**Kaio** , thanks. I’m a bit familiar with trigger points, as I trained as a massage therapist years ago. I just got that book for my kindle-- looks like a good reference to have on hand. As for acupuncture, I have had it from competent practitioners, and they use very fine disposable needles that they insert _barely_ under the skin. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not, just like with western allopathic medicine. But I always appreciate your opinions, **RivkaChaya** (Chaya is my Hebrew name 🙂 ). ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241/29 "2016-03-09T17:50:54Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > _Sigh_ Acupuncture is supposed to work by inserting needles into “meridians” that were theorized by people who had never autopsied a body because religion forbid it; the paths of the meridians were based on rivers that ran through China. _Sigh_ My practitioners never once mentioned meridians or Chinese medicine. My acupuncturist was a trained and licensed physical therapist who discussed trigger points in the body, which is based on research done by medical doctors in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-experience-with-tmj/748241.md?page=1)