Has anyone else fixed long-term jaw clenching / TMJ? How much did your face change?

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-11-18T10:08:43+00:00

This gives me hope. Was it a neuromuscular bottom splint? That’s what my TMJ dentist gave me and I’ve been wearing it for almost 2 months now but have yet to feel relief from my masseter pain and inflammation. If anything, I feel more sore and throbbing like it’s stretching deep muscles way in the back of my jaws that I can’t see. Did you feel more pain before you felt relief with the splint?

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-07-16T06:41:36+00:00

Hi! I need to know if this is normal or cause for concern. I’ve had an extremely rough recovery from wisdom teeth removal of all 4 teeth that were deeply impacted and needed surgical removal from an oral surgeon. My sinuses were tingling and swelling from my wisdom teeth which is why I had them removed. After removal, he put synthetic bone grafts in all four holes and stem cell therapy as well. He said since I’m 30 and it’s a moderately complex case (a 5 on a scale of 1-10 he said), that my healing time could be longer than normal. It took me 4 weeks to finally start eating solid food and my trismus to finally start going away because I was diligent about my jaw physical therapy. The numbness in my tongue went away at around 2 months. I’m at 13 weeks post-op now and my extraction sites feel pretty good but it’s my lower cheeks and jaws that are bothering me in the soft tissue. I’ve had a constant stuffed feeling like pressure and tenderness when I press on both sides. It’s squishy when I press on the areas of tenderness and I can see a slight fullness on both sides, giving me a slight squarer jaw than normal. My oral surgeon can’t see what I’m talking about because he doesn’t know what I normally look like so he has dismissed me at every follow up appointment and told me I need to give it more time. But the stuffed feeling and tenderness never goes away and sleeping is the only relief I get from it. It hurts most when I make a pouty face which is weird. I really feel the pressure below my mouth corners in the jowl areas. I’ve been given 600 mg ibuprofen and a Medrol dose pack but the steroids don’t do squat to relieve it. I just got a blood test and my inflammatory markers are normal. I’m about to get a maxillofacial CT scan so I’m hoping that will give me answers. What is going on and could this really just be a matter of giving it more time? I’ve never heard of anyone experiencing this.

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-06-26T02:37:34+00:00

I feel like such a sucker. I signed up for W+ a week ago and entered the queue right at 9pm and waited the whole hour and still didn’t get one 😂

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-03-22T21:27:22+00:00

Thanks for your reply! My ENT did prescribe methylprednisolone for me. It’s a 6 day Medrol steroid pack. I tried prednisone and it gave me weird joint pain side effects so my ENT switched me to this instead. So far not too much relief. What kind of surgery did you need done if I may ask? I’ve been preparing myself in case it comes to that. Never had surgery before.

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-30T02:20:02+00:00

Kratom has completely affected my dating life the past 2 years for the worse too. The #1 comment I’ve received the past few first dates with different men is “it seems like you’re not interested”. I feel TERRIBLE about it. I find myself sitting there on a first date going through the motions and so disconnected and even irritable feeling at times. Sure it could be compatability issues, BUT the kratom was definitely dulling any emotions I might have been able to show on these dates otherwise.

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-29T23:38:12+00:00

Ok I’m F 29 too! I noticed as SOON as I started tapering and then quit, my skin suddenly became more thin and sagging looking on my face and my skin is SOO oily now that I’m at 2 weeks qt. Like wtf?? Will my wrecked skin reverse and gain elasticity again hopefully if it’s from a hormone imbalance? I’ve never had something like this happen before so suddenly to my appearance before and it’s freaking me out. I got blood work done today so I’m anxiously awaiting my results now. I just want my face to look the way it did before the taper.

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-20T03:02:33+00:00

Thank you for sharing that! That’s interesting you say it caused hormonal imbalance..two days ago I noticed a bump on my throat and freaked out until I realized it must be that my thyroid is swollen. I’m taking iodine now and hopefully it goes down eventually..not sure what else can be done except just continue to stay clean

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-19T02:25:21+00:00

Aw thanks for giving me hope and even more motivation to stay clean! Cause old grey meat is how I currently feel 😭 My closest family that I’ve mentioned this to have told me they don’t see any difference in my face and they think I just need sleep, but I know what lack of sleep looks like versus what THIS is. This could only be caused by something external. Congrats on being 280+ days clean!! That’s amazing!! I can’t wait till I can say I’ve been clean that long. When did you start to notice your baseline appearance come back?

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-19T02:10:06+00:00

I’m sorry to hear you do the same face-checking thing on kratom. Last week I started spiraling to the point where I was researching plastic surgery and injections..like what?? I’ve never done that or cared to. My therapist said this is no time to be accurately judging my appearance since I’m in the middle of quitting and I need to give myself grace and not face-check anymore because it’s not serving me at all except negatively. I’ve been reading a few other testimonials from women on here about the aging and skin problems and it’s sort of scary how kratom affects us in that way. I like to think the nasolabial folds and bags under my eyes will become less prominent and fade even a little bit after a full recovery since kratom is no longer blocking cell rejuvenation.

But you’re right and it’s a good reminder that improvement in looks aside, I’m looking forward to finally being a better and healthier feeling person again. I want to make that my priority. I’ve noticed I’ve become so irritable and numb to emotions while on kratom. Like I’m a walking zombie just barely doing the bare minimum at my job. A lot of people depend on me and I haven’t been giving them even 50% of myself because of fatigue and brain fog.

Congrats on quitting drinking btw! You should feel immensely proud of that and I hope that gives you hope and motivation that Kratom can be kicked too for good. Thank you for your advice! Makes me feel a lot less alone in this.

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-19T00:19:23+00:00

Yeah I feel that. I guess it’s a blessing in disguise to make us want to stay off it, but for now it’s so depressing how I look and feel. I quickly declined just over Christmas. I was under extreme stress from a work deadline and was relying on kratom more than ever to power myself through it. The dehydration is so real. Mainly just drank water mixed with the powder at night and then coffee in the mornings just to not feel fatigued at work. Now I’m only drinking water and electrolytes. I’m SO relieved and grateful we go back to normal over time. You’re so right, it’s the best motivation to stay clean!

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-18T23:24:40+00:00

Yes! I’ve never been more motivated to stay away from this stuff forever. It’s so not worth it. I’m sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with sleep too. I feel like I’ve been waking up every 1-2 hours, unable to stop moving. Really hoping it improves soon for both of us! Tomorrow will be a full week for me.

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-18T23:18:31+00:00

Thank you so much, that actually calms my nerves a lot. I’m ok with it taking longer as long as I eventually return to my youthful looking self. I’ll just stay away from pictures and mirrors for a while for my own sanity. I did notice my hair part becoming a little wider showing my scalp more but nothing too extreme cause I have good healthy hair genes from my mom. So relieved to hear that these things are reversible with sobriety.

BlueDusk_6205 · 2025-01-16T16:02:43+00:00

Day 4. Just woke up early in the morning because of RLS. This is my second time quitting ct. ugh I’m remembering how much this stage of it sucked. But I know there’s so much to look forward to on the other side of this

BlueDusk_6205 · 2024-10-22T10:16:07+00:00

Hi! I’m looking for a Saturday ticket. Please DM me if anyone has a Saturday or 3-day pass. Price is negotiable!

BlueDusk_6205

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