TMJ disorder: steroid injection?

[BigDog]

I have had major TMJ issues going on 2 yrs now. At this point I can barely eat anything! After trying a variety of things that were unsuccessful, I got a steroid injection in my jaw. I'm really hoping this relieves the pain. Has anyone else tried this with positive results? For what it's worth, I was diagnosed with anterior disc displacement of the tmj. Plus I clench constantly, day and night, which makes it worse! Thanks for any feedback!

[Aishe]

You say you've tried various things so this may be a dumb question, but have you tried physical therapy? I've had severe TMJ my entire adult life, but I had a particularly bad flare-up a couple years ago. I went to an oral pain clinic, where they started me on a physical therapy regimen that was very effective. In addition to the PT I also got an injection of a local anesthetic, but not a steroid. They don't know why the anesthetic injection helps, since the numbing effects wear off quite quickly, but it definitely helped me. I hope the steroid injection is the cure you need. I know how miserable it is! Like you, I could barely open my mouth enough to even get a bite of food in there. It's no fun.