What Are The Unusual Symptoms Of TMJ?

All over the world, including, of course, the American states, there exists a large number of people who suffer from problems in their temporomandibular joints of the jaw. Greater researches into these problems have made the symptoms of this problem more recognizable by doctors as well. The most common symptoms of TMJ disorders make an appearance as inflammations at and near the jaw joint area, migraine-related headaches, improper biting techniques, a laborious chewing process, none of which can be got rid off easily. The physicians can now even point out certain TMJ symptoms, which, till a few years back, were not known to be related to TMJ at all. In order to get a feel of the real-life problems that these unusual symptoms of TMJ posed to patients, a few case studies have also been described here.

The bony temporomandibular joint is situated, as can be seen from anatomical diagrams, at not much of a distance several important organs at and around the skull. An example of this would be the middle section of the ear, which is located less than an inch from the joint and is connected to the joint via a ligament. The ligament transfers different auditory simulations to this part of the ear. The closeness of the TMJ to the muscles of the neck can also be proved by the fact that, any aches starting in the TMJ, soon extends to affect the neck muscles as well. This close proximity of the vital organs also result in the tinnitus sounds being heard by a person suffering from TMJ disorders. Indeed, a great amount of confusion among medical experts lie in the issue as to whether tinnitus problems caused TMJ, or if the case was vice versa.

A Look At The Less Commonly Noted Symptoms Of TMJ:

* Ringing sounds in the ear, similar to what the tinnitus patients get to hear. This symptom is mainly brought to light via the actions of the Pinto’s Ligament, which is the connecting region between the mid-area of the ear and the temporomandibular joint, serving as a passage for transmission (both ways),
* The area near the jaw (more particularly, the cheek) gets affected as a result of the TMJ disorders. Such adverse effects generally show up as swellings on the sides of the face that have been actually affected. Not all TMJ patients, however, suffer from this symptom of the ailment, making it somewhat rare,
* Hurting sensations in the shoulder, often of a serious and intense nature. Such shoulder pains start off from one particular side of the body, and travel along the muscles of the neck. Other areas can also become affected,
* While not many TMJ patients actually suffer from vertigo, at least in the initial stages, they do often talk of a certain giddy feeling. This generally starts of with the afflicted person feeling queer and lightheaded, and his/her head starting to spin. These problems can soon assume much more serious proportions as well,
* It is also observed that, if a TMJ patient happens to be more than 50 years old, (s)he is increasingly likely to experience a numb feeling in his/her fingers. Driving a car and/or signing documents become impossible in such cases. Thankfully, these situations do not last for long, and relief is obtained without any separate medications either.

However, it should not be considered that, the uncommon symptoms of TMJ disorders are limited to only the above four cases. In fact, the following case studies would only serve to highlight how varied and troublesome these symptoms can prove to the actual sufferers:

Case Study 1 – Absence of TMJ aches, but the jaw pops out at regular intervals:

The problems faced by a TMJ patient (name not disclosed according to patient’s request) were summed up by the following: “I have suffered from problems with my TMJ since I was a child. When I was 10 years old, my mother used to complain of me “clicking my teeth” on a spoon when I ate. The trouble is, my teeth never came near the spoon. The sound she heard came from my jaw popping. My jaw now dislocates constantly. I can’t eat pizza or french bread, or even sing, without it locking. I wake up several times each night having to relocate my jaw. There is no pain just a jaw that can’t seem to function normally. Brux guards do nothing. In fact, the only thing that seems to keep my jaw from popping and sticking is applying pressure to the left TMJ. I have to sleep these days with a hard pillow pressing against the joint, or it pops out constantly. It’s clear that something is keeping my jaw from aligning properly, but no one seems to be able to help me fix it.”

Second Case Study: TMJ Patient Taking In The Saliva Continuously

Another TMJ disorder affected patient (also refusing to disclose his/her name) summed up his/her inconveniences in the following way: “I never clench or grind my teeth but I am constantly doing it now. The side of my face in front of my ear feels swollen, as does that side of my neck and the ear itself. My neck and shoulders ache, and I am constantly swallowing saliva. The back of my neck hurts. My ear rings and kind of feels numb at times. The predominant symptom I have is the neck pain. Even the bone in back of my last tooth feels bad.”

Case Study 3 – At Distances Of Even Five Feet, Click Sounds Of The Jaw Being Rendered Audible:

As TMJ patients try to open their jaws, certain clicking sounds (often at fairly loud levels) can be emitted. The following is the experience of one such sufferer of the TMJ disorders: “I have had joint pain and severe popping and cracking in my right jaw for 20 years. I am now 35. I have tried all the recommended treatments and have had very little success (braces, night guards etc.). I experience headaches, ear fullness and pain, facial pain in front of my ear, extreme pain when opening my mouth wide to yawn or laugh or eat followed by cracking (that can be heard up to 5 feet away) and dislocation.”

Getting Rid Of TMJ Disorders: Advisability Of The Natural Procedures

It is often recommended to the TMJ patients that they should take up treatment methods of TMJ problems, which have a natural base. While these remedies, often made at home, do have their beneficial features, they fall into the same trap as do the conventional treatment modes and medicines that are available without prescriptions – viz, targeting only the symptoms of the TMJ problem, and not the reasons that lie behind it. This is where the holistic treatment modes score over these medications, since the former considers the entire bodily system of the patient as a complete unit, and drives out the root causes of the problem, after detecting them systematically. With the exodus of these TMJ-disorder causing factors, the symptoms of the disease go away too, never to return again. Hence, for getting a lasting relief from the TMJ troubles, the holistic methods are considered to be the best option.

Sandra Carter is a certified nutritionist and author of the best-selling e-book, TMJ No More . For Further Information: Unusual Symptoms Of TMJ

Related posts:

1. Understanding TMJ Disorder Each year, millions of Americans suffer from temporomandibular (TMJ) joint and muscle disorders. These disorders are also usually called TMJ disorders and they can cause severe pain in the jaw...
2. EXPOSED: TMJ Symptoms Including Numbness In Arms And Fingers The temporomandibular joint is a complex bone formation in the base of the skull that aids in the opening and closing of the mouth in order to eat, drink, masticate,...
3. A Closer Look at TMJ Syndrome Having difficulty in moving your mouth, especially when opening or closing it? Do you hear popping or clicking sounds when you move your jaws? If you answered yes to any...
4. Chiropractic Care Relieves TMJ Symptoms I have been encountering TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint disease) symptoms for quite some time without knowing what the problem was. It was the ringing in my ears that was really pushing...
5. A Simple TMJ Cure TMJ... We have often heard about it but many of us still do not clearly understand what a temporomandibular joint disorder or TMJ is. TMJ is the most commonly used...
6. What Is The Treatment For TMJ: Get Your ANSWER Here. Though we have long given up the habit of fighting for food and snatching large chunks of meat with our teeth before anyone else could get to it, and biting...
7. TMJ Pain and TMJ Exercises It can be quite annoying to suffer from TMJ disorder. Not only does this disorder cause great pain, it can also be tricky to diagnose. TMJ disorder has a wide...
8. Symptoms Of A Whiplash Following A Car Accident Car accidents can cause a number of injuries, one of which is whiplash. The hitting of the car from the rear side is mostly the case involving a whiplash injury....
9. How to Discover Ovarian Cyst Symptoms and Diagnosis The amount of woman being affected by cysts on ovaries has gone through the roof. With the current trend, it seems like any woman is not exempted to any type...
10. What Are The Various Symptoms Of Inflammatory Arthiritis Concise explanation Arthritis is technically related to any painful inflammation in the joints; but this term is commonly used to refer to all types of joint problems. On the contrary,...
11. How to Discover the Symptoms of Ovarian Cyst The number of woman being afflicted with cysts on ovaries has gone through the roof. With the current trend, it seems like any women is not off the hook to...
12. What Most Say About Neck Pain Many people walk around everyday with neck pain that can interfere with their quality of life. This pain can often be explained by a number of reasons. Muscle tension and...
13. Neck Pain Causes Head Ache – It’s A Common Complaint I know the problems of neck pain as I myself suffered from neck pain. I do have great amount of concern for my clients who suffer from neck pain....
14. Panic Attack Symptoms – 5 Common Symptoms How do you recognize you are having a panic attack? Recognizing panic attack symptoms can be hard. People have been admitted to the emergency room of a hospital thinking they...
15. What is Tinnitus? Tinnitus, properly pronounced like ti-NIGHT-us or TIN-I-tus is a condition in the ears that rings in the head with no particular justifying sound. It sounds like the ocean waves coming...