On account
of the complexity as well as the nearness to the eye,
ear, palate, tongue, neck, shoulder, etc. the
Temporomandibular Joint or the TMJ can flash innumerable
warning signs and symptoms when something goes wrong
with it. Health-care personnel not fully familiar with
these are prone to confuse other ailments with the TMJ
disorder, resulting in faulty diagnosis. In addition,
some of the organs mentioned above are interlinked with
the TMJ, turning the picture more intricate. For
instance, a tiny tendon called the Pinto’s Ligament that
connects the TMJ with the middle ear can convey mid-ear
soreness to the TMJ and vice
versa.
However,
some of the TMJ symptoms are easy to recognize and may
be termed Primary Symptoms while others that are not so
easily identifiable may be called Secondary Symptoms,
both of which are described below. Moreover, there are
quite a good many unusual symptoms of TMJ that gives
rise to misdiagnosis and so are listed here
too.
Primary
TMJ Disorder Symptoms
Primary
symptoms of the TMJ syndrome include pain in the jaws,
facial pain (myofascial syndrome), unrelenting headache
and ear pain as well as hearing difficulty. Primary TMJ
symptoms also include inflammation of the
temporomandibular joint with tenderness in the
surrounding muscles, ligaments and bone. People
suffering from TMJ dysfunction also complain of sinus
stuffiness, stuffiness in the ears and dizziness (not
vertigo) affecting them during major part of the waking
hours. However, the most unmistakable symptom associated
with the jaw joint comprise of nagging headache,
clicking sound while opening the jaw and restricted
mouth movement.
Secondary
TMJ Disorder Symptoms
- Secondary
TMJ symptoms are no less agonizing as compared to the
principal warning signs given by the TMJ disorder and
are described here item wise.
- Secondary
TMJ disorder symptom relating to the head and face
include migraines, cluster headache, sinus type
headache and forehead pain. Additionally, pain is felt
through the scalp and hair
roots.
- Secondary
TMJ disorder symptom relating to the eyes include
sensitivity to light, blurred vision, pain below,
behind and above the eyeball, feeling of pressure
behind the eyes and frequent watering in the
eyes.
- Those
relating to the ears include ringing, hissing, roaring
sounds in the ear as in Tinnitus, gradual loss of
hearing, feeling of fullness in single or both the
ears, earache and stuffy or clogged
ears.
- In the
mouth, the symptoms are visible in the cheek, face and
chin and this include pain in the jaw and jaw joint
(TMJ), painful and restricted jaw movement, clicking
or popping noise in jaw opening, chaotic tongue
movement, uneasiness and pain in mouth, cheek, chin
and face.
- Secondary
TMJ disorder symptoms relating to the neck include
painful neck muscles and aching shoulder blades. Also,
there is back pain and stiffness in the whole area
that becomes sore to the
touch.
- Secondary
symptoms are also noticed in the throat such as sore
throat for no rhyme or reason, swallowing problem and
a feeling of tightness in the
throat.
Unusual
Symptoms Of TMJ
Swelling
in the jaw and cheek is an unusual symptom of TMJ which
is more pronounced on the side of the face that has been
affected. Though inflammation in and around the affected
jaw is a regular feature of this, it rarely extends to
the cheek or the surrounding areas. This is probably
caused by gorged blood vessels in those areas where the
blood can not be drained out.
Numbness
in the fingers is yet another unusual symptom of TMJ in
people above fifty. However, it is a seemingly transient
phase that goes away as suddenly as it had
appeared.
Shoulder
pain occasionally affects those who are suffering from
TMJ and it is generally restricted to one side of the
shoulder. The strain radiates from the neck and spreads
towards the shoulder.
Constant
jaw dislocation sans any TMJ pain is an unusual type of
TMJ symptom that is experienced by some people. These
people are required to sleep with a hard pillow pressing
against the affected joint as it is prone to get
dislocated while in sleep. This has seemingly resulted
from misaligned jaws that have remained untreated for
long.
Sound of
clicking jaw that can be heard up to 5 feet can be
treated as a very unusual TMJ disorder symptom though
under normal conditions, the noise can be heard by
anyone else within a radius of 1 foot or 2. These people
also experience intense pain followed by clicking and
can hardly dare to laugh!!
TMJ
Treatment
Since
so many people suffer from the disorder, there are quite
a few treatment options that include conventional
treatments such as drugs and surgery, home TMJ remedies
and exercises to relieve TMJ. Most of them can
successfully treat the symptoms, but the problem is,
since the root cause of the disease remains within the
body, the symptoms often make a comeback. It seems that
the only treatment that gives permanent relief is
holistic remedies. Treating the body as a whole,
holistic remedies reach within to identify all the
contributing factors and once the root causes are
treated and gone, the symptoms go away automatically,
never to bug the person anymore. So for a lasting cure,
you need to turn to holistic
remedies.
