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I have been having jaw pain for a while on the right side of my face. NOT TMJ. It happens primarily will extensive low playing. I have seen the dentist and have been working with Chris Olka. He has some ideas, but it was definitely foreign to him.

Does anybody know any jaw pain experts - even better if they are near Dayton, Ohio? Tuba player, doctors, dentists, whatever. Thanks!

Even if it's not a traditional form of TMJ it's probably a related event caused by your jaw position when playing low range. I have experienced something similar, with popping and locking on one side but no pain.

If you use Skype, I'd like to see what you're doing - and I do Skype lessons where I can (probably) show you how to negotiate your entire range safely and avoid that issue.

I do have TMJ and have been playing professionally with it for over a year now. I have found that getting dry needling done in my right jaw once every other month helps a lot. I also have some mouthpiece routines, stretching etc I do that can help you out. Also be in tune with your right shoulder is doing while playing and see if you are adding tension where there shouldn’t be any. Jaw/face pain can not only come from the jaw but from tight shoulders pulling on the back of the neck etc. PM me and we can get together via Facebook video. I don’t charge anything just paying it forward.

Zach

This sounds like a good candidate to talk with your primary physician and possibly a physical therapist. They might be able to observe your playing and recommend some better habits.

I used a physical therapist for some very mild carpal tunnel syndrome. You can't really improve on it, but you can prevent it from getting worse, and we were able to determine adjusting my bass playing. In general, now I play more like a classical guitarist when sitting and try to keep a similar position when standing.

I second what James said above. Jaw pain due to low register playing (Pomp on F tuba for @12 commencement in a few weeks, anyone?) is something I suffered from for years. I carry a ton of tension in my jaw as a result; I initially thought it to me TMJ but my orthodontist said that the pain from TMJ would be be located much higher in the jaw - so mine, as I suspect yours might be, is muscular. A night guard with a bite corrector is what I have been using since February and pretty much of that pain is gone. No commencements on the F is probably a factor as to why that pain not resurfacing this month as well.

Just my two cents:

I had issues with a similar problem years ago. I talked to an oral surgeon that specialized in jaw issues about it. He took some X-rays and asked me to go through what I do with my jaw for stuff like yawning and eating. A few simple adjustments to bad habits cleared everything up.

Best of luck!

While I have neck pain and not jaw pain, when sold my tuba the buyer took a picture of me playing it at my request and I was astonished how tense I looked, because the leadpipe angle was VERY different from what I needed. My head was lowered and tilted back just to get my face to fit on the mouthpiece so I could buzz. Tuba leadpipes come straight out and I need a considerable angle downwards because of my facial structure. One thing you can do to see if this is indeed part of your problem is to put the mpc comfortably by itself on your face (easy good buzz) and get a good look at the angle in the mirror with good posture. If that angle is not the same as your leadpipe angle, you have a place to start.

A little over a year ago I started to experience pain in my left jaw when chewing, especially if I was chewing food on the right side. My dentist suggested I see a TMJ specialist and I was prescribed a dental appliance to wear at night. It basically pulls my jaw forward a little bit to allow the cartilage in the jaw to move back into position. After a few weeks the pain went away. I still use the appliance and have not had a problem since. Luckily it never affected my playing.

ken k

Do you chew gum regularly?