NOTICE:
DO NOT ATTEMPT TREATMENT WITHOUT LICENCED MEDICAL CONSULTATION AND SUPERVISION
This is a public discussion forum. The owners, staff, and users of this website are not engaged in rendering medical services to the individual reader. Do not use the content of this website as an alternative to personal examination and advice from licensed healthcare providers. Do not begin, delay, or discontinue treatments and/or exercises without licensed medical supervision.
It looks like others here have posted something similar but I thought I'd start a new thread for tidiness...lately I've noticed that just my right masseter(?) has become tense such that chewing can be uncomfortable at times and I even try to develop an earache and had a touch of tinnitus a short while ago. I've never had TMJ issues and this seems to have cropped up suddenly as I've been using correct tongue posture/mewing for several years now.
The main change I can think of that may have led to this is the loss of my lower permanent retainer earlier this year, which was not replaced (by the time I got in with a new orthodontist my lower incisors had already shifted). Since then I've been trying to make the best of the situation, waiting to see if my lower teeth re-align as my lower jaw expands to match the upper. I remember my original ortho mentioning that my masseters might cramp as they atrophied in preparation for my bite-correction treatment, and now I wonder if this is what's happening here. I've normally carried more tension on my right side, including/especially my shoulder and neck which naturally has affected facial symmetry (or lack thereof), and palate expansion has not been symmetrical thus far. Without the constraint of a lower retainer I wonder if my face is now correcting that asymmetry, especially given that I can't attribute the jaw tension to any abnormal muscle tension in my neck as if anything the latter has improved of late. My chiropractor thinks there's some "compensation" going on, but for what I'm not clear. I've been hoping that this jaw tightness is just a step on the way to further progress, but as it's been a few weeks now I'm starting to wonder if I should be concerned. I keep my tongue in the proper position most of the time (provided I can breathe through my nose) but I don't "hard mew" and my teeth are slightly separated most of the time. (It's possible that I still clench in my sleep but this never resulted in a sore masseter.)
Anyone else have jaw tension on one side only?