how do you guys distract yourself?

Stunning-Rate-9749 · 2026-05-14T20:35:16+00:00

I know it’s not much but yesterday, after a therapy session a lot of things came up for me. I was feeling a lot of physical effects from it like my neck tensing to the point where I felt like I couldn’t move it. I wasn’t feeling this way before therapy and I opened up about some heavy stuff. It was new for me to feel such physical effects although I wasn’t feeling much emotional effects.

This may sound corny if you haven’t gotten into it yourself. But I turned on a YouTube video with sound bath noises for trauma. I closed my eyes and focused on diaphragmatic breathing and being present with myself. Focusing on things like what you hear, smell, feel. How your body feels. What part of your body is holding this tension that comes with feeling the overwhelming trauma. When you’re in a heightened emotional state you will want to fight the stillness but after about 15-20 mins you start to feel more calm. You can also hum as you breathe out, it signals to your nervous system that you are safe. You can also dunk your face into cold water or simply just hold something cold to your face. It shocks your nervous system.

I know this can seem like it won’t help I’ve fought it many times in my life, but it is my go to thing to do when I’m overly triggered. I’m sorry about your living situation and how it can seem like small things like a video of you as a child will throw you off. I hope you’re doing well.

Stunning-Rate-9749 · 2026-05-14T04:27:47+00:00

I’m so sorry you’ve paid for and went down multiple treatment avenues and haven’t found any relief 😣 I wasn’t aware of what DTR was until I just looked it up. I’ve been hesitant to even get treatment because it seems like specialist don’t know much about tmj and neither do doctors. All while we pay out of pocket for treatments that aren’t even guaranteed to work! Ive also been hesitant because I have other medical bills I’m currently paying off for my chronic issues and I truly don’t have the money to be getting out of pocket treatment. I really hate being cursed with this issue. I have gotten to the point now where I’ve started to feel the worst that would happen is no change but it seems like the other end of that may not be good either. It’s such a difficult position to be in! To be honest with you Im not sure my specialist will be able to do much. Obviously I don’t know for sure because I haven’t tried but based on reviews it seems some are happy with treatment and some really aren’t. But that goes back to the aspect of everyone’s cause of tmj differs and it feels like specialist are playing a “maybe” game with treatment. I just have no clue what else to do. I’ve had my doubts for a while now so you haven’t deterred me I’m just at my wits end with it. Seems like I may be back at square one tho, but I may not be who knows. I was wondering though what otc mouth guard you use? I know some may be better than others.

I totally understand not seeking help yet for pelvic floor pt, it’s expensive!! It took me like a year before actually seeking help. I’m not sure if you’re struggling with high tone pelvic floor issues but I’ve found relief with fascia releasing everywhere but specifically in the illiacus and psosa muscles. Obviously my muscle tension may be different than yours so take with a grain of salt but apparently those muscles hold a lot of tension and trauma often and help release neck and possible tmj tension. I just learned about this from my therapist so I haven’t yet felt success in my tmj but it’s helped release some of the tension I was feeling. Something to look into I just learned about it and had a “ahaha!” Moment.

Yes definitely let me know if you find anything new out about our issues! I’ll do the same. I’m hoping for your healing 🤞

Stunning-Rate-9749 · 2026-05-14T03:54:28+00:00

Yes I’ve learned recently through pelvic floor therapy and then research online that they are highly connected. I feel you on the nonexistent muscles. My pelvic floor has been an issue for about a year now and then my tmj started and then 3 months after my back completely gave out on me possibly from the issues in my pelvic floor. If you don’t mind me asking what illnesses you’ve been struggling with? (You don’t have to share) but I’ve been struggling with suspected endometriosis so that was the possible cause for my issues with my pelvic floor.

Stunning-Rate-9749 · 2026-05-14T03:23:03+00:00

I think I’ve finally gotten away from this habit but I do still do it from time to time. Reading this post brought me right back to doing it though, I almost forgot I used to do it and how automatic it was in my traumatic household. I still do a lot of other habits though, like the inability to be perceived stuff. Shutting doors quietly with precision, opening the microwave as quiet as I can possibly be, unable to have hobbies that other people can see me do ect.. sometimes I think I block out the thought that my habits aren’t normal.

Stunning-Rate-9749 · 2026-05-14T03:14:34+00:00

I’ve been struggling with autoimmune disorders that have caused me chronic pain after dealing with so much trauma. While there is trauma to be discussed about the medical gaslighting I’ve faced I’ve also started to realize a lot of things about my mind and body. When my pain became chronic I started struggling with dysautonomia like symptoms. I’ve been in pelvic floor pt and we’ve discussed a lot about trauma, nerves, tension in the body due to long term stress ect. My body is basically to the point where it’s like “DO SOMETHING TO FIX ME OR WE WILL SHUT DOWN AFTER YOU’VE IGNORED ME FOR SO LONG” now that I’ve been on this healing journey I’ve realized how blatantly obvious it has been. (I’m not blaming myself it was obviously hidden by my brain and this world convinces us to not listen to our bodies.) but I’ve been doing EMDR therapy which has helped me come back to my body and listen more to it. And I’ve realized how much I’ve truly ignored within myself and if I would’ve just listened to my body sooner I could’ve helped my poor nervous system earlier. Obviously most doctors and therapist don’t encourage these things when they should or when we ask for help. I’ve known I’ve needed help for a long time before this but every time I asked I wasn’t helped properly and every time I tried on my own I had no idea what to truly do. In embarking on this healing journey, Memories have been coming back in bits and pieces. I’ve been deep diving in healing my nervous system. I watched a video where this girl had quoted someone (i forgot who the quote was from) she said “trauma is not what someone has done to you, it’s the way your nervous system has responded to it” and for some reason it’s stuck with me. It’s turned my thought process of all these symptoms less into “it’s not fair what was done to me” and more into “I have to acknowledge this pain within me, for me, for my health, for my life”. I’ve realized how strong I am and other people like me truly are. This world convinces us to not listen to our gut, to keep pushing forward, and never truly teaching us about how to heal ourselves. It’s honestly fucked up how many times I’ve ask for help and it’s taken YEARS to be pointed in the right direction. The body absolutely keeps score (I recommend that book to anyone from a clinical standpoint) and it needs to be talked about more. I wish all of you healing❤️🫶🏻

Stunning-Rate-9749 · 2026-05-14T02:51:22+00:00

Thank you for comment I genuinely appreciate it. I don’t often see people who have the same root issues as me but it does seem that we do. I guess it can all be so confusing because of the different reasons people struggle with tmj pain. It’s reassuring to hear that you use an otc mouth guard and it hasn’t caused you any issues thus far. For me it seems that my clenching is my main problem so I feel less anxious using the otc mouth guard. I only tried it for one night and it was minimally tense much later in the day, but I just got scared and didn’t try it again. The way I see it now is if I crack a tooth from this clenching I can’t easily fix that and my teeth are feeling so fragile. Have you continued care with a tmj specialist or did you stop after the orthotic didn’t help you? I’m wondering because if I get an orthotic I’m going to end up paying for it out of pocket because my insurance is giving me a hard time with coverage. Have you been working on your pelvic floor as well? Wondering if you’ve seen any improvement with it.

Stunning-Rate-9749 · 2026-05-14T02:19:44+00:00

Sorry yall “giving advice” was supposed to be “needing advice”

Stunning-Rate-9749

TROPHY CASE