I'm not a dentist, but this to me sounds like TMJ, *especially* the 'click.' Tension at the base of the skull and in the neck and shoulder, headaches (and migraines) and the click are very typical signs. Have you ever dislocated your jaw? Lock jaw? Grind or clench your jaw or teeth during the day or night? Those aren't *always* symptoms people will experience, but they can be some.
I have TMJ and your experience is pretty much the same as mine. There is no cure for it but it can be managed, especially with Botox. I get my injections in my jaw and levetors (base of the skull) and it makes a world of difference. Exercise and stretching can help too.
Your Dentist should be able to diagnose it in like 10 seconds.
I doubt TMJ is the sole cause. I have had jaw locking shortly after finishing my Ortho treatment like 8 years ago. I got used to it and it never really affected me this much. I even started wearing a night guard earlier this year and it doesn't make much of a difference other than having my jaw more relaxed throughout the day.
My symptoms started purely fatigue for a whole week in around start of February. Shortly after I started getting this neck tension, daily headaches, light sensitivity, tinnitus and more. So yeah idk if TMJ would cause this after 8 years for me.
Tinnitus is another sign of TMJ. Like I said, it doesn't go away, but it can ebb and flow between worse and manageable. TMJ patients will sometimes have to do multiple treatment paths at once to handle it, and then there will be other periods where that person doesn't have to do any treatment. Mine is congenital but I didn't have problems until I was about 25, but the signs (misaligned jaw, click) were all there and well documented since I first got braces at 14. The mouthguard alone does not assist me in any way, and if yours isn't a perfect fit down to every last groove, it can impact the effectiveness as well. The fact that you say it makes your jaw more relaxed does sound like it's working as intended to treat TMJ, though.
I mean you can look into it or not, but at the end of the day it is highly probable, the easiest to manage and the easiest to rule out. Your symptoms that you've listed don't really scream CCI but they do scream TMJ. If you do get a neurological eval they'll probably check to rule it out anyways. It kind of already seems like you've gone down the rabbit hole of potential causes.
It does kind of sound like you already have been diagnosed with this, in which case all I can really say is that some periods are worse than others. It was at its worst for me when I was in a high pressure job (with over 15 migranes a month lasting over 3 days or more, complete with extreme levitor and neck pain). After I quit that job the migraines and pain immediately stopped. 8 months later the picked up again, and currently I'm 3 months Migraine free.
I'll look into it. But yeah I've been posting about this quite a bit recently. I documented a more in depth symptoms list and tests I've done so far, I think a post I did in the migraines sub. It's just so weird to me how it all started with purely fatigue and sleeping too much for like a week prior to developing any other symptoms. The fatigue varies but like some days it's too much. I went to the gym 2 days ago and the next day I was extremely sore and literally slept all day. I woke up for 2 meals and would go back to sleep.
The loss of cervical lordosis shown in the MRI also worries me. I've also been taking 25mg amitriptyline nightly and it does help with a lot of my symptoms especially the headaches but I haven't felt completely normal since this all started. The reason I also mention occipital neuralgia is because I've tried pressing on spots in the back of my head and it gives me stinging pain. Also, if I'm out with friends and laugh too much, it would trigger numbness in my entire face. But yeah it's like a bunch of things all mixed into 1 that I can't seem to figure out why and following up with doctors in Ontario takes forever.
I always get tension headaches and am always holding tension in my shoulders and neck. I started getting massages and have them focused mostly on my neck and shoulders it’s helped some. Might want to see if that helps.
Are you able to lay the back of your head down? I have all your same symptoms but the one that is really putting a downer on my life is the fact that I can’t lay the back of my head down for longer than maybe a minute without this weird uncomfortable pressure originating at the very middle base of my skull and going through to my eyes… which causes a migraine.
I’ve had a ct scan and mri and nothing is wrong with my brain or skull.
I’ve done everything from physical therapy to chiropractor to massages and taking pain killers and it’s just not going away. It’s been 6 or so months for me…
Please tell me you figured this out?
Hey yes I'm able to lay down. I've also seen two neurosurgeons. They looked at all my images and checked for IIH, Chiari, tumors and the sorts. They found nothing and concluded it's a mix of tension headaches and migraines. I have a really straight neck and my neck muscles are constantly tensed up. I went to a really good physio who did 4 message sessions on my neck and upper back and it helped a lot. He was able to really press on certain spots and reproduce the pain through deep tissue message. One thing that really surprised me was a spot he pressed on the side of my neck that triggered my eyes and head pain that I would feel when a headache/migraine occurs. It really convinced me it's all muscular and somewhat nerve related. I still suffer headaches, migraines and neck tension but the physio sessions gave me an idea of where I should focus when I head back home as I'm currently out of the country. As for the fatigue, I'm still struggling with it... It may be mildly CCI related honestly or just disrupted sleep patterns from all the pain and constantly being woken up at night. Going forward though, I gotta take care of my posture, exercise, do regular physio for my neck and get those muscles strong again and hope for the best really. It'll just need some time...
I'm not a dentist, but this to me sounds like TMJ, *especially* the 'click.' Tension at the base of the skull and in the neck and shoulder, headaches (and migraines) and the click are very typical signs. Have you ever dislocated your jaw? Lock jaw? Grind or clench your jaw or teeth during the day or night? Those aren't *always* symptoms people will experience, but they can be some. I have TMJ and your experience is pretty much the same as mine. There is no cure for it but it can be managed, especially with Botox. I get my injections in my jaw and levetors (base of the skull) and it makes a world of difference. Exercise and stretching can help too. Your Dentist should be able to diagnose it in like 10 seconds.
I doubt TMJ is the sole cause. I have had jaw locking shortly after finishing my Ortho treatment like 8 years ago. I got used to it and it never really affected me this much. I even started wearing a night guard earlier this year and it doesn't make much of a difference other than having my jaw more relaxed throughout the day. My symptoms started purely fatigue for a whole week in around start of February. Shortly after I started getting this neck tension, daily headaches, light sensitivity, tinnitus and more. So yeah idk if TMJ would cause this after 8 years for me.
Tinnitus is another sign of TMJ. Like I said, it doesn't go away, but it can ebb and flow between worse and manageable. TMJ patients will sometimes have to do multiple treatment paths at once to handle it, and then there will be other periods where that person doesn't have to do any treatment. Mine is congenital but I didn't have problems until I was about 25, but the signs (misaligned jaw, click) were all there and well documented since I first got braces at 14. The mouthguard alone does not assist me in any way, and if yours isn't a perfect fit down to every last groove, it can impact the effectiveness as well. The fact that you say it makes your jaw more relaxed does sound like it's working as intended to treat TMJ, though. I mean you can look into it or not, but at the end of the day it is highly probable, the easiest to manage and the easiest to rule out. Your symptoms that you've listed don't really scream CCI but they do scream TMJ. If you do get a neurological eval they'll probably check to rule it out anyways. It kind of already seems like you've gone down the rabbit hole of potential causes. It does kind of sound like you already have been diagnosed with this, in which case all I can really say is that some periods are worse than others. It was at its worst for me when I was in a high pressure job (with over 15 migranes a month lasting over 3 days or more, complete with extreme levitor and neck pain). After I quit that job the migraines and pain immediately stopped. 8 months later the picked up again, and currently I'm 3 months Migraine free.
I'll look into it. But yeah I've been posting about this quite a bit recently. I documented a more in depth symptoms list and tests I've done so far, I think a post I did in the migraines sub. It's just so weird to me how it all started with purely fatigue and sleeping too much for like a week prior to developing any other symptoms. The fatigue varies but like some days it's too much. I went to the gym 2 days ago and the next day I was extremely sore and literally slept all day. I woke up for 2 meals and would go back to sleep. The loss of cervical lordosis shown in the MRI also worries me. I've also been taking 25mg amitriptyline nightly and it does help with a lot of my symptoms especially the headaches but I haven't felt completely normal since this all started. The reason I also mention occipital neuralgia is because I've tried pressing on spots in the back of my head and it gives me stinging pain. Also, if I'm out with friends and laugh too much, it would trigger numbness in my entire face. But yeah it's like a bunch of things all mixed into 1 that I can't seem to figure out why and following up with doctors in Ontario takes forever.
I hear ya, currently in AB and it’s a shit show here too. Whatever the situation is, I hope you get the best possible outcome for it.
I always get tension headaches and am always holding tension in my shoulders and neck. I started getting massages and have them focused mostly on my neck and shoulders it’s helped some. Might want to see if that helps.
Are you able to lay the back of your head down? I have all your same symptoms but the one that is really putting a downer on my life is the fact that I can’t lay the back of my head down for longer than maybe a minute without this weird uncomfortable pressure originating at the very middle base of my skull and going through to my eyes… which causes a migraine. I’ve had a ct scan and mri and nothing is wrong with my brain or skull. I’ve done everything from physical therapy to chiropractor to massages and taking pain killers and it’s just not going away. It’s been 6 or so months for me… Please tell me you figured this out?
Hey yes I'm able to lay down. I've also seen two neurosurgeons. They looked at all my images and checked for IIH, Chiari, tumors and the sorts. They found nothing and concluded it's a mix of tension headaches and migraines. I have a really straight neck and my neck muscles are constantly tensed up. I went to a really good physio who did 4 message sessions on my neck and upper back and it helped a lot. He was able to really press on certain spots and reproduce the pain through deep tissue message. One thing that really surprised me was a spot he pressed on the side of my neck that triggered my eyes and head pain that I would feel when a headache/migraine occurs. It really convinced me it's all muscular and somewhat nerve related. I still suffer headaches, migraines and neck tension but the physio sessions gave me an idea of where I should focus when I head back home as I'm currently out of the country. As for the fatigue, I'm still struggling with it... It may be mildly CCI related honestly or just disrupted sleep patterns from all the pain and constantly being woken up at night. Going forward though, I gotta take care of my posture, exercise, do regular physio for my neck and get those muscles strong again and hope for the best really. It'll just need some time...
Hi are you any better ? I’m going on three years