Clenching at Night

[Pete_B]

Hi - Does anyone know of anything other then splints that can help with clenching during sleep.  I do have mild sleep apnea (7 sleep studies done) and using cpap/bi-pap do absolutely nothing.  When I go to sleep at night, I'm exhausted and alway, for 13 years, have woken up feeling terrible.  My face hurts, my jaw hurts and my eyes burn and it's hard to focus them.  I wear a 'clear-way' apnea device everynight but I think my problem is the excessive clenching.  No matter what I do or try, the outcome in the morning is the same.   It is really getting to me after 13 years.  I have been to every doctor on the planet (it seems) and nobody can help me.  I do have severe neck and lower back pain as well when I wake up in the morning - perhaps related, perhaps not related.  After waking it takes me about 2 hours to 'come around' as I'm in a fog and as I mentioned, my whole face hurts.  I always thought it was sinus problems, but I've had 2 sinus surgeries and it still exists.  I can deal with the neck and lower back pain, but the whole head thing is another issue.  I feel if I could cut off my head in the morning, and put it aside, I would feel okay...pretty scary thought.  I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone can provide - also is there anybody who experiences this as well - it helps to know that I'm not alone in this.  Thank you very much.

[nevermindu]

Wow.You sure have been thru alot.If you've tried that many masks and machines I don't know what to suggest.I do have a friend that has TMJ and she is considering surgery to break her jaw and realign it.Sounds awful to me but I'm assuming she would be under anesthesia.I'd say you just need to get in and see a doc.Good luck.

[Pete_B]

Thank you for your comments - I have had accupuncture in the past, for different reasons, but never for clenching.  I will try it. (Thank You).  On the sleep apnea, I've tried about 8 different masks and 3 different types of machines cap, bipap, auto bipap - nothing seems to help.

On the TMJ disorder - I will look into seeing if there is a specialist in my area.  I do know for a fact that I have TMJ - had an MRI about 7 years ago and from what I remember, my jaw dislocates when it is open. I've had multiple splints and actually have broken one due to the sheer pressure I exert down from my jaw.  I know the clenching is causing the facial pain but I've tried (what I think) to be everything - from taking supplements which are suppose to help 'cure' it to the splints, etc.  The hardest thing for me is trying to understand if I clench as a result of sleep apnea, or if I clench because of neck/lower back pain (at 10 yr. old, I have a severe head trauma due to a diving accident) as a result I'm not even sure if the clenching might be related to this trauma.   Will a TMJ doctor be able to figure out what is causing it?

Thank you again for your help !!

[Enoch Choi, MD]

A tMj (temporal mandibular joint) specialist can help a lot with this.  There are many conditions that can lead to this, and a specialist can help tease out all of the possibilities.

[nevermindu]

Accupuncture has helped me immensely.I have migraines and I clench my teeth when stressed.I get accupuncture on my upper back and it helped with the tightness in my jaws the first time.I go every 2 to 3 weeks.Before accu I tried EVERYTHING.But accu has given me the best results.Also,there are so many masks that you can wear with your C-PAP.I also have sleep apnea and went through about 4 different breathing masks.Now I use "nose pillows".Ask you doc about those.I can't stress enough though how much the accu has helped.It is not painful to me.The relief has been tremendous.Good luck.