Truly a life-changing experience.
Hi! My name is Hannah, and I have TMD — Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (also referred to as TMJ).
Hannah Marder / BuzzFeed
Here’s a selfie of me and my cat currently. Apologies for photo quality, I hate taking photos of myself. Also, for eagle-eyed readers — yes, I am wearing a Sunnydale sweatshirt.
Basically, TMD refers to any problem with the hinge joint connecting the lower jaw to the temporal skull bone. I can’t remember exactly when I was first told I had issues with my TMJ, but it was years and years ago at the dentist/orthodontist’s office. It’s given me headaches for years.
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TMD occurs when the joints, muscles, and nerves don’t work exactly as they’re supposed to, and can cause chronic facial pain. It can be caused by a number of things, including genetic factors, injury, and bruxism — basically just teeth-clenching. Surgery can help with TMD as a “last resort,” but in my experience (and according to Mayo Clinic) treatment is much more about mitigation of symptoms, which include pain around your jaw, its joints, and your ear (sometimes I even get headaches when wearing over-the-ear headphones, especially if I’m also chewing/eating), difficulty chewing, and locking of the joint. A lot of people may not need treatment for TMD beyond OTC pain meds when it’s acting up, and it’s also important to note that many teeth-grinders don’t deal with TMD.
I’ve also been told by my dentist that I clench my teeth pretty badly — I catch myself doing this throughout the day*, and I often wake up with a headache. To solve both of these problems, my dentist has always just told me to use a mouthguard and take Tylenol, as again, much of the treatment for TMJ is just basic symptom management.
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*I also have anxiety, which is a huge part of it.
And y’all, I tried the mouth guard — and I hated it. I can’t fall asleep feeling something in my mouth. I’ll catch myself chewing it, too, almost compulsively, which sort of defeats the purpose. Also, I clench my teeth a LOT during the day, especially in cold weather, and I was not about to wear a mouthguard 24/7.
I’ve basically just dealt with these headaches for years. Sometimes I medicate with Tylenol, but I try not to use it too much, meaning I almost always wake up with at least a slight headache. And in the last couple months, it’s gotten a lot worse. It got to the point where my jaw always felt stiff and it always felt like I had a headache.
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^Basically me every morning.
So I decided to do something about it! I had heard in the past that Botox could be used as a treatment for TMD. Basically, it’s injected into the masseter muscles in the lower jaw to temporarily block nerve signals there, rendering it unable to move for a few months (aka forcing it to “relax”).
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It’s important to note that while Botox is FDA-approved, it is not approved for specific use in the jaw for this purpose. It’s still considered an experimental treatment for TMD. Scientists are still researching the long-term effects, and results on animals have pointed to a possible loss in jaw bone density over time. Also, Botox itself has its own side effects and concerns. You should 1000% make sure that you are going to an experienced injector.
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Healthline recommends going to board-certified dermatologists, plastic surgeons, ENT specialists, or registered nurses working under the supervision of a doctor. Dentists do sometimes offer Botox injections for TMD, but honestly I felt more comfortable going to someone who does Botox basically all day, every day.
I kept these concerns in mind, but since I was trying this as a one-time thing to decide if it was even effective for me, I felt comfortable trying it. I went ahead and booked an appointment at Trifecta Med Spa in New York because they had a local office and open appointments, and came well-reviewed on Yelp and Realself.
The whole process was very quick. They explained everything to me (without pressuring me into treatment), had me sign some forms, then took photos. Then I saw back and the injector got started! I had to clench, then relax, then clench my jaw again — I’m not bad with needles, and I figured it’d just be one shot. Nope! It takes maybe a minute or so for her to inject it all around the muscles. I didn’t see what was happening, but it felt like the needle was going into a few different spots along my jawline.
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My injector did also advise wearing a mouth guard, saying she’s seen great results from just that and that it’s much cheaper. This actually made me trust her a lot more, because I knew she wasn’t just trying to sell me more treatments.
She did the other side, and that was it — over in two minutes. It didn’t hurt a lot at all. It just felt sort of like a minor flu shot that lasted a minute or two. For reference, she’d injected 25 units per side, which she said is their standard amount for TMD and bruxism.
Hannah Marder / BuzzFeed
Many of the other places I researched also advertised 25 units per side, with studies on the effects of Botox for TMD suggesting 25-50 units. I got 50 units overall, which is probably a bit more than you’d get for, say, forehead lines, making it a bit more expensive. It cost me around $700, which I realize is a big expense and not something a lot of people can afford — and it’s rarely covered by insurance. My injector recommended getting it done around three times a year (as Botox lasts about 3-4 months), so it does add up, too.
I felt completely fine after, and the injector informed me that I was okay to drink and exercise — normally after Botox, you have to restrict these activities for 24 hours, but my injector said this is for fainting risk and doesn’t apply when the Botox is injected in the jaw.
My injector informed me that unlike with normal Botox, for which you’d likely start to see results in a few days, I could expect to see results in a few weeks. She also informed me that I may see some slimming of the jaw as a result of the muscles shrinking from not being used, but that that change could take months. Here’s how I looked an hour or so before and an hour or so after treatment – as you can see, exactly the same.
Well, she was right. I didn’t notice anything for a few weeks, and honestly kind of forgot I did this. But then something magical happened. Around 2-3 weeks in, I started to notice that I wasn’t waking up with headaches anymore. Soon, I noticed I wasn’t clenching my jaw throughout the day. In fact, the only time I felt jaw pain or tightness was after walking around in the below-freezing New York air for a while.
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I used to have particularly bad headaches after drinking the night prior, even if I’d only had a few drinks, and these went away too!
It was definitely not a sudden difference, but by a month in, the difference was huge. My headaches had basically gone away. I had been really worried about my chewing being affected or wanting to clench my jaw and not being able to once the Botox kicked in, but I didn’t experience that at all. Chewing was easy, and it was like I didn’t want to clench my jaw anymore. It had been an unconscious yet constant behavior, and again almost unconsciously, I had stopped.
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If I try to clench my back teeth now, they just like…won’t clench all the way. But I have to truly make myself try to clench. It’s not my body’s go-to behavior anymore. It’s not literally “cured” as I joke in the gif above, as the Botox doesn’t affect the actual joint — I’d have to get surgery if I wanted to fix my weird jaw popping thing. But as something that mitigates symptoms, it was extremely effective.
Here are photos of me before and a little over a month after my treatment — to be honest, I didn’t notice any jawline slimming, though I guess it kind of looks like it in the below comparison. I also know results can build over time and repeated injections.
Hannah Marder / BuzzFeed
I think my face is tilted just ever-so-slightly down in the second picture, which is why my face looks a tiny bit slimmer. If there has been any change, it’s been VERY subtle. I personally would not recommend this if all you’re trying to do is slim your jaw, because I don’t think there was enough of an effect. Although again, I’m only a month in!
Overall, I am SO happy I tried Botox. The effects have been incredible, and though there are risks with long-term use that I will continue to monitor and keep in mind, at least right now the risks are worth it to me.
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I will likely try again with the mouth guard, but continue to get Botox for my daytime jaw clenching.
Would you ever try Botox to relieve jaw pain? Have any of you had similar experiences? Let me know in the comments below!
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahmarder/i-tried-botox-for-my-tmj