tmj

I have TMJ. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a mouth piece the dentist customizes for you, or you can get a mouth guard for 20 dollars that you just fit yourself. I wore one for a couple months and no longer had to use it because the TMJ 'relaxed.' Just a word of caution, and I don't want to throw a disease on you that you don't have. However, I have fibromyalgia, and one symptom is facial pain, usually on one side of the face. Of course, other symptoms are fatigue, pain in the joints, stiffness (not just in the morning) and suddenly having to use the restroom. Not everyone has all of the symptoms of course, I hope something cures your TMJ, but if it isn't that, I wanted to make sure you had a possibility. I struggled for years without finding a diagnosis. : )

I just went to my regular doctor, that's probably a lot cheaper than the ER. I had earaches, my jaw pops out (I dislocated it as a child), and I get very intense jaw pain if I'm eating something crunchy where you have to open your mouth a lot (like Honeycomb cereal). The dentist nearly kills me keeping my mouth open and opening and closing it, and they always want it in the worst position!