chronic jaw tension, dizziness, and possible sinus infection

by Lana

I've been suffering from extreme jaw tightness and dizziness for 5 months now. I am at the point where I feel completely hopeless.

So many of the doctors an "specialists" I've seen know absolutely nothing, and simply try to get me to buy something from them. Nothing they have said to me indicates they have significant knowledge of the things I'm going through.

I'm turning to you based upon what I've been reading on your website. You seem like an expert and I'd love your input.

It started with a floating/drunk kind of feeling, and I experience it every single day since October 2011. It came with deep, deep pressure behind my nose (like sinus area), into my back upper teeth, headaches. I first thought it was a sinus infection but after x-rays and CT scan, it showed no infection whatsoever.

Started to get pain behind my right eye, deep ache in my right ear, and local heat coming from that ear (noticed this when taking my temperature and my right ear keeps showing a low grade fever, left ear normal)

Soon after I started to get tightness in my throat, sometimes like a golf ball was stuck in there. Tightness feels mostly in my soft palate and immedate back of throat area.

This was then folowed by a progressively worse jaw tightness that radiates into my temples (temples, especially the right one, is sore to touch). I have headaches in my temples everyday and also behind my ears, back of head, forehead and of course the maxillary sinus area.

My doctor said it's anxiety and gave me a presciption for Cipralex. I reluctantly used it for a month and nothing changed at all, so I stopped it. Tried muscle relaxants and they did NOTHING. Advil lessens headaches but deep pressure and tightness is always there.

Got an NTI device made for my mouth at night to lessen the impact of clenching on my back molars (and hence, my masseters). After $500 and two nights, I developed pain and locking in my LEFT jaw. Very disheartened. Haven't used the device in several weeks and the left jaw pain and locking still exists.

Been to a chiropractor twice and she's done myofascial release and some trigger point therapy intraoral, masseters and neck muscles. She's also twice done acupunture. No changes wahtsoever. Is it still too early to do anything?

I'm just wondering if you think jaw tendons are involved here and if so what the heck to do about it. Massaging my jaw muscles and neck muscles, as well as neck stretches, brings only temporary relief. By temporary I mean literally about one minute before everything starts cramping up in my jaw again.

I'm thinking now about trigger point injections and steroid treatment but I don't know if I'm just desperately grasping at straws.

I don't understand why everything keeps going back to the cramped and tight position whenever I stretch or massage. The dizzy/floaty feeling and daily headahces and intense pressure are too much to bear 5 months later. I have three young children and am unable to be as effective as I should be as a parent. This saddens me tremendously. Any thoughtful guidance and suggestion and advice are HUGELY appreciated.



please note: I paid for the "quick response" option and await your response! Thank you!



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Joshua Answers:


Hi Lana. (I changed your name to make it extra anonymous. I usually don't, but did this time.)

Ouch. That doesn't sound fun at all.

Sounds serious to me. Not necessarily 'dangerous' serious, but it's interesting to me that your doctors haven't paid much attention. It doesn't sound like run of the mill TMJ, and sounds like there's some infection involved. I'm not a doctor nor do I deal with systemic issues, but I have a couple suspicions. I'll have Kerri take a look to see what she thinks once you answer the questions below.

I have some more questions before I start talking, but let me say just a couple things first.

1. The doctor that said it's 'just anxiety' is a quack and a danger to his patients. That's just my humble opinion, of course.

2. There are a few very good reasons why muscles get locked, or said another way, there's specific reasons why muscles can't relax. We'll talk about that.

3. I understand 'hopeless'. When my ruptured disc was bad, I spent some time screaming into a pillow until I passed out, because there was nothing else to do about it but scream into a pillow until I passed out....


Let's try to solve this puzzle before it gets close to that.


QUESTIONS:

1. Health history. Detailed. History of headaches? Were you fine 6 months ago? Details.

2. History of car crash, fallign down the stairs or off a horse, broken bones, boxing matches, etc?

3. Your 3 children are yours, in the sense of you were pregnant with them? (This is a 'how much nutrients did you lose from pregnancy' question.)

4. How were your pregnancies? Easy? Problematic?

5. How old are you kids, in relation to when this started?

6. Are they having any health issues?

7. Where do you live (really looking to see how much sunshine you get)? Alternately, do you know what your Vitamin D level is? If you don't, get a level taken.

6. Are you an anxious person? Type A personality (go go go always busy fast mind etc)?

7. What happened in October 11? or before that?
Were there any highly stressful occurrences, like death in the family, divorce, get fired, etc?

8. Did you travel anywhere, drink water from a new/unfamiliar source, get food poisoning, in the relatively recent past? H Pylori bacteria overgrowth, for instance, can cause some mighty strange symptoms.

9. How's your digestion, recently and historically?

10. How's your energy levels, recently and historically?


Answer the above so I can get a more clear picture of what's going on, and we'll go from there.



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Please reply using the comment link below. Do not submit a new submission to answer/reply, it's too hard for me to find where it's supposed to go.

And, comments have a 3,000 character limit so you may have to comment twice.
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Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com











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chronic jaw tension, dizziness, and possible sinus infection

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Mar 18, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		response to questions
by: Anonymous

Thanks for your speedy response, Joshua!
Here are the answers to your questions:

1. No major health issues. No headaches at all prior to this onset. In fact, I used to brag about how I rarely if ever got a headache.

2. No car accidents, falling down stairs, etc. I went snokelling once last August and had a very hard time with it and had to give up, but no "accident" involved.

3, 4 & 5. I've had three normal pregnancies. No difficulties with the pregnancies or delivery. They are between the ages of 7 and 11.

6. None of them have any serious health issues.

7. In Sept '11 my mother passed away. It was just as I began coping better with her passing that these symptoms set in.

8. Was in Cancun, Mexico in August '11 (hence the snorkelling I mentioned above). I didn't have any food poisoning or problems when I was there or when I came home. I never thought about H. Pylori though I always thought it was more of a stomach issue.

9. Very good bowel habits and no unusual digestion issues.

Vitamin D - I did get my levels checked with recent bloodwork and it was low. Curently supplmenting with 4,000 IUs of Vit D along with a multi, Cal/Mag, 5,000 mcg B12 and Omega-3. Just started this a few weeks ago.

Personality - definitely a stress/worrier type person. I've really been working on that and had done some EFT on my own.

Energy levels - have pretty much always been low since adulthood. I should mention I also did one session of Cranial-Sacral Therapy but didn't notice any difference in symptoms.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this as well as the whole muscles-refusing-to-relax thing. Sometimes I get really mad at my body like, "Why are you doing this??" But then I think it's just responding to some attack. The problem of course is not knowing what kind of attack it is!
Mar 18, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		forgot to mention...
by: Anonymous

I forgot to mention that I did have an x-ray, CT scan and endoscopic exam of my sinuses and it all came back negative for an ENT pathology. I REALLY thought it was a sinus infection, possibly a stubborn fungal one, even though I had no discharge whatsoever. But the tests proved it otherwise.


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Joshua Comments:

Ahhh, tests.

Sometimes they're proof positive, sometimes not.

So. Three main points.

1. Type A personalities have high Magnesium requirements.

2. Major stress issues can/do catapult a system into a downward spiral. I'd put money on that it's no coincidence re: the timing of the onset of this. That timing is very common for people and health issues.

3. Nutritional status: babies suck nutrition out of you, figuratively and literally. We don't eat well enough to replace it (US diet sucks). Type A pulls more magnesium that you replace. Magnesium is required to deal with stress. You were already short on Magnesium, body wasn't able to deal with stress -> downward spiral.


So. First things first. See my Magnesium for Tendonitis page.

Then see Kerri's: Magnesium Dosage page, and associated pages.

She's really the one you should be talking to right now. She commonly deals with your situation, from a systemic perspective that includes nutrition, but also related systemic directions including: adrenal fatigue, cortisol and other hormone levels out of whack, various inflammatory issues, and possible bacterial overgrowth (h pylori) or parasite issues.

When the body can't deal with stress it sets you up for the onset of things your body then can't fight off very well (bacteria, parasite).

H Pylori causes a whole host of random symptoms. Probably not the issue with you, but that's a case where testing is a very good thing, if indicated.

First thing to do is get a bunch of magnesium into you and see what happens.

Think of it like water. If you don't drink enough water, your body fails to work. Same thing with magnesium. So don't think about it like a supplement, think about it like water (but DO pay attention to Tolerance Level!)


More questions, more answers.
Mar 21, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Joshua asked me to comment
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi,

Joshua asked me to comment on this thread. So, my first thought is YIPES! That is really strange. If it's not a sinus infection or a chronic ear infection, I don't know what that is. Have you seen an ENT to rule out a condition known as mastoiditis, which is an infection of the mastoid bone behind the ear? It 'should' be seen on a CT scan, and is almost always accompanied by an ear infection. So, it's a long shot, but worth asking about.

Next, have any of your laboratory tests shown a high WBC count? That's an indication of an infectious process and is usually elevated if there is an infection. However, if you have not had any fevers or anything of that sort in the long time that you've had this, that seems to rule out an infection since an infection doesn't keep festering over months and years, but usually ends up becoming an acute problem with fever at some point.

So, assuming that this is NOT an infection, it certainly sounds as though Joshua's advice to get magnesium and lots and lots of it into you is a good idea. Maybe that is not the whole answer, but it certainly sounds like there is an element of muscle tension/cramping that is the hallmark of magnesium deficiency.

The other thing that I would suggest, is to read my pages on Gluten Sensitivity. While your issue is certainly not 'typical' of gluten sensitivity, the problems that are resolved on a gluten free diet are SO diverse and sometimes so crazy and seemingly unrelated that ANYTIME someone has a problem that their docs have given up on, I always recommend a two month trial of a gluten free diet.

Maybe it sounds weird, but I have seen weirder things resolve from a gluten free diet and it's certainly worth a try since your life has been so devastated by this. But also get onto tons of magnesium. I'd also recommend using magnesium gel and rubbing it right into your face and jaw where the pain is the worst.


Kerri Knox, RN
Mar 21, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		response
by: Anonymous

It's interesting you mention magnesium. I forgot to mention that along with the the other supplements I mentioned that I've been taking about 600mg of magnesium citrate at bedtime. My thought is that it would help with the nighttime clenching but I'm not sure if it's helping with that issue. I've been taking it for about a month now, so I don't know if it should have "kicked in" by now or if it's still too early to tell. I will definitely go to Kerri's page to read more.

Your website really is a wealth of information! I was reading about the icing you recommend for tendonitis and wondered if you think it's worthwhile for my jaw situation?


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Joshua Comments:

Rub the jaw, definitely. Not ice massage so much, but try it out and see how it goes (I find it more annoying then helpful so just do non-ice rubs).

More magnesium. 600mg isn't bad, but I'm guessing it's far from enough. Work your way up to and then push Tolerance Level.

Keep us updated.

More questions, more answers.
Jun 12, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Solved My TMJ Problem
by: Emerson

For at least 7 years I've suffered from chronic tension headache, dizziness, floating, nausea, various head pains and fatigue. I went to a Relax The Back store and the guy said my symptoms sound like what a local doctor specializes in. It's chiropractic under the name The Blair Method or something like that.

After tests and X-Rays the doctor said it appeared my Atlas Vertebra was out of position because of trauma. I've had more than my share of head injuries. Anyway, he pushed it back into position and immediately the dizziness and floating stopped 80-ish percent.

He also told me the lift I was told to wear in my right shoe twenty years ago is wrong because my legs are not a different length. Imagine all the damage I've been doing all these years running and lifting weights. I imagine the rehab will be for a good number of months but at least I'm on the right track. I'm hoping the head pressure goes away.


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Joshua Comments:

Yep, there's definitely that too.

Magnesium is vital, some good/skilled chiropractic can help, appropriate jaw work, maybe neck/shoulder work too.

It just all depends on what one has going on.

For the record, 80% isn't 'solved'. But it's definitely FAR better! A quick 80% better is a win in my book.

And lifts and orthotics, yeah...I'm not a fan.





Jun 24, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		I have all of Lana's symptoms too
by: Patman

For a year now I have been suffering from Jaw and neck tension. I first noticed it when I was working in Australia. It got severe to the point I couldnt open my mouth without a struggle one day at work and had to leave. It takes a lot for me to go to a doctor about anything. I went and the doctor told me it was stress. I dont stress but what he said did irritate me to the point of clenching my teeth.

I recently had a lumber surgery after a year and half of very bad sciatica which progressed and had to be operated on. Immediately after my surgery my symptoms of jaw/neck tension where gone and amazingly I was so impressed and overwhelmed by this that I forgot about my bad leg for the first ten minutes after I woke up.

Once I left the hospital the jaw tension started building again. 7 days after my surgery I started suffering Headaches, pressure headaches. gradually over the 6 weeks recovery I started getting very dizzy as well/headaches/pain around eyes and the jaw tension was back with vengeance!

Now its like my left jaw and neck is hot and sore. My jaw when I move it in and out on the left side makes these horrible swishing noises like there is fluid moving about or something grinding. My left Jaw bend is also harder and more swollen than the right side. I have a pain going around my head. Its like if i was wearing hair band going around my ears and hairline.
Thats where the pressure pain is. Ringing in the ears too.

A suspected craniosacral fluid (CSF) leak was ruled out after a brain MRI scan at 11weeks. Discs appear to be ok too, according to the neurosurgeon. Now Iv been referred for a neck scan and to an ENT. This is where I am now. Im struggling with work. Like... Im battling day to day. Everyday is a win but its starting to get me now. Going to bed is nothing i look forward to, its like my brain is a ball in water and its spinning. I get lots of nightmares and I cant get my neck comfortable. Its the strangest thing sometimes I wake up in the night and im extra dizzy and it feels a bit like my tongue is getting pulled down my throat. I feels as though my glands are hard on my left side and tender. Hopefully Mr ENT will do something. I really feel for Lana. I dunno how she manages this with three kids. I take cod liver oil, garlic and multivitamins. Sometimes I take zinc tablets because they seem to help my nerve problems in left leg and helps my health in general. Iv stopped taking them now. I don't take pain killers. The worst thing is not knowing what it is.

Please do give me some advice.





Jun 25, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		re: Emerson's comment
by: Anonymous

Emerson, it was interesting to hear about your experience with the atlas procedure as I have been thinking about that possibility. Just curious to know how many visits/adjustments you had and if you're still feeling the 80% improvement?
Jun 25, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Patman on chronic jaw tension, dizziness, and possible sinus infection
by: The Tendonitis Expert

Joshua Comments:

Hi Patman.

It's interesting how all your jaw pain went away when your brain was distracted by the surgery.

Question: Did they give you any IV nutrition in the hospital during/after surgery?


It's interesting you say you don't stress. Everybody stresses. Everybody deals differently with it. The brain will actually distract you from stress by creating a very real pain dynamic.

So the jaw thing could be 'in your head', as they say, but in a way where the physical aspects are very real.

'I don't stress' plus the total absence of symptoms after surgery make me very curious. Get 'Healing Back Pain' by Dr. John Sarno. Substitute 'back' with 'jaw'.

Also, get the free The Tapping Solution ebook. And use/try that on the jaw pain/tightness.

I can't say enough about 'Tapping'. Even when I think it's dumb as I'm using it, it can be surprisingly effective.

My sense is that there is actually a lot of mental aspect to your scenario.

Having said that, many of those symptoms sound magnesium deficiency related, including the tinnitus. So follow the Magnesium suggestions.


Question: Do you have a history of car accident(s), falling off a horse, boxing, any other whiplash causing event?

Question: Swishing noise, like fluid moving when you move your jaw? Say more about that.
Oct 08, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		so horrible
by: Anonymous

I have. Hurting. Jaw. Too. I can. Empthy. Withyou. I need to cgo. Too the dentist. I mabie have jaw infection. Too. Hope. We both. Get. Well
Dec 05, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Tightness of jaw causing issues with palate and trapping sinus drainage
by: 4 Years of This Pain :(

Is that even possible? I've been dealing with the symptoms that the first commenter mentioned for 4+ years. Assumed sinus problems and was told repeatedly that nothing showed up on x rays or CT scans. Then one day I went in (I'm persistent when I'm in pain!) and they saw that my head was slam full of infection. Surgery was scheduled for the next day. After surgery, even months after surgery, I was in MUCH more pain than before. It was like everything was just trapped up there in my head and could not drain out.

Side bar- I was in an abusive relationship (mental/emotional/verbal) when this started. My jaws are where I hold my tension and they've never been as tight as they were when I was married to this man and for the years that followed.


When I was young, I had braces b/c the orthodontist saw a pattern that my jaws were going to cause me issues. I did not wear the retainer (ugh) and I do believe now that my jaws have done exactly what he said they would do.

My teeth have suffered (4 root canals in a 2 year span). My migraines are off the chart. My head constantly hurts.

Does this sound even plausible at all?



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Joshua Comments:

Hi 4Years.

Yes, it all sounds totally plausible.

Before I comment further, what did you mean by "Is that even possible?" ?
Jan 25, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Muscle Tightness in Jaws
by: Leon

I have been experiencing muscle tightness in jaws upper and lower... doctors think its anxiety i am also experiencing ringing in ear like there is some sort of infection going on it has caused dizziness.

I had cat scans done and have found nothing. Can you please let me know what help i need. I tried magnisum in a low dosage but stopped i was getting stomach sensitivity.

Leon




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Joshua Comments:


Hi Leon.

You didn't leave an email nor check the notifications box, so I hope you find this.

You describe the symptoms of magnesium deficiency.

And if the gut is extra sensitive to 'low dose magnesium', that's actually a sign that you NEED magnesium. So you might need to focus on topical application for a while while pusing the oral intake (broken up in small amounts frequently throughout the day).

Hot Epsom Salt baths, and Transdermal Magnesium Gel (opens in new window).

This thread is relevant for you. Read the whole thing.

Also see: Tendonitis Of The Jaw
Feb 13, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Jaw incident
by: Percy

Hi, Josh.

I'm 20 years. I had a little incident. Last week, I was holding a flashlight with my mouth, and at one point, it literally slipped and held it with my teeth and acted as a lever that opened my mouth, not aggressive. There was no pain, only a scare after jaw movement and sound like a click in the left joint, like when a finger ring.

When I check in the mirror, I realized that when I open my mouth at the peak, there is a small bump, so imperceptible, that pulls the jaw two millimeters to the right. When I get close, leaving the peak, the jaw with a pull back their way nomal imperceptibly. Whenever I do that, never hurts, often click, but I'm afraid that's worse. Very rarely clicks very strong. Anyway, I can open my mouth normal, I can eat normal and talk normal. But I'm afraid that's worse.

Now, muscles seem tired for doing a job they are not used to doing. And I feel that the muscles become inflamed. I even feel a lump near the jawline (not just in the jaw line). I don't know if tired muscles give the feeling that I have jaw something subluxated. Do the muscles would cause those clicks? How long will the muscles recover? I think I have a strained muscle and that causes a dull pain in the cheek, not the jaw joint. Because there are times when the jaw joint does not clicks. :)


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Joshua Comments:

If the muscles on one side are tighter than the muscles of the other side, they'll pull the bone towards that side. That applies to a single side, or both sides.

If you forcefully dislocated your jaw just a little bit, then potentially you stretched a ligament(s). Or your muscles and nervous system are jazzed up at the moment.

1. Massage the inside and outside of your jaws, both sides, inside and outside of the mouth. Gently. Relax it all.


If it gets worse, let me know.
If it gets better, let me know.

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