Anxiety tension in jaw

[Isla_Rose]

Hi everyone,

First time posting, new to the community.

Ive been living with anxiety following a severe panic attack (first time either has happened to me) for the last 6 months. Course my fear is the fear of another panic attack. To provide background my panic attack happened during the night. I fainted, and struggled to breathe after the attack, like i couldn't get the air i needed. 2 hospital visits and an ambulance ride within the next 24 hours later, and i was diagnosed with a deviated septum (blocked airway in nose). Have since had the surgery to have this fixed. The time from being diagnosed to the surgery was a week. Though it was the hardest and darkest of my life. I couldnt eat or sleep. Recovery from this surgery is a slow one meaning it was weeks before i could breathe through my nose again. This messed with my brain. I had been seeing a psychologist, though havent seen him in awhile as ive been doing really good. im still finding i have tension in my jaw and wondered if anyone else might have some tips on how i can relax this?

[White_Rose]

Dear Isla Rose

Welcome to the forum. Glad you decided to join us.

I do have a suggestion about the jaw tension. I suspect you may well be clenching your jaw in your sleep and causing a great deal of sleep time wasted. I happened to mention this to my dentist who immediately checked the base of my neck, and asked if I was having some problem with my eyes. He said I clenched my back teeth and made a plastic cast of my teeth. He made arrangements for me to have a tooth guard. This is slipped onto the two front top teeth and works by not allowing your jaw to fully close. Doesn't mean you sleep with your mouth open, it is closed but the jaw cannot clench.

I found it amazing and after a few days my head stopped aching and the neck tension went away. After a while I stopped using it and only started again when I became tense. So my suggestion is to see your dentist.

Hope that's helpful.

Mary

[Isla_Rose]

Thank you for your suggestion Mary. Happy to hear this worked for you. I must admit I hadn't thought of seeing my dentist. When he's back from holidays I'll have to make an appointment.

[baet123]

Hi Isla Rose (awesome name by the way),

Welcome to BB and thanks for sharing your situation with us.

Health anxiety is a tough condition to live with but it seems like your doing much better which is amazing. I think it is worth considering seeing your psychologist regularly as it is super important for maintaining and ensuring we remain on track and when we are going through a rough period, we have that constant support or outlet to discuss our emotions.

Mary made a great point about seeing your dentist. I also recommend you seeing your GP and asking him/her about TMJ which stress/anxiety is a well known cause of this condition.

How do you sleep at night? On your back or on your side? I know from my own experiences that often sleeping on your side can cause grinding. We don't know that our teeth grind but it is all to common and you often wake up with extreme jaw pain. This is another topic to discuss with your health professionals.

I hope this helped. Look forward to hearing from you again.

All the best,

Nick.

[gloria10]

Hi Isla Rose,

I am sorry to hear that you have been having a difficult time but I am glad that you have reached out at this forum.

I can understand some of what you are saying as I also have a deviated septum, difficulty breathing at night and jaw issues. It definitely causes me stress as I just want a good night sleep.

One thing I tried recently was raising my pillow so that it was on a lean. I found this helped my jaw relax as I think my sleep position was causing issues. It could be worthwhile speaking with a Physiotherapist though as they can provide help with jaw problems.

Hope you feel better soon.

Gloria 10