helmet help

[James]

ok first off you are thinking this is one of those what should i buy threads well its not.

I have a problem with my jaw up where it connects to skull on the side of the head by the ear , whenever i play lacrosse for more then an hour it locks up and i can hardly talk it hurts to move it sometimes it gets real bad and feels like it is popping out and i always thought it was me. But recently i went to the orthodontist and i asked what the problem was, thinking what have a got to lose, and he said my problem was a moved piece of cartilage up or something like that where it hurt, ( where the jaw bone connects to the skull) he said i probably got it from a contact sport and i told him lacrosse he said that would do it and screw up my jaw permanately ( it only hurts when i am wearing a helmet) so i asked him how to fix it or make hurt less and he said it was probably the chin strap.
So back to the equipment part i was wondering if any of you have had this problem and if so how have you made your helmet not hurt your jaw or what helmets strap made it hurt less as compared to a former helmet. If it helps i have a Brine Triad and i have tried everything when it comes to adjusting the strap so i know that doesnt work

[PilotShinjiIkar]

Well that exact area of my face would hurt from the pressure of my helmet, and after wearing lax helmets my jaw is always slack now since when I closed my jaw the pressure from the helmet hurted alot. But I didnt have problem talking afterwards, I'd say chinstrap too tight, or the pressure from the helmet. So either loosen the chinstrap and if that doesnt work get a Riddell Revolution helmet with the air pads.

[James]

no its not too tight i can take off my helmet without taking iff the stap because it hurt too much to have it just a little loose. its inside my jaw that hurts it feels like it clicks and when it clicks it hurts. I didnt have problems actually talking but it was the pain that kept me from talking if that makes more sense

[FallIntoIt]

What you have is known as TMJ. It refers to the joint on each side of your face, where there is (like your ortho said) a little cartilidge disk similar to those in your spine. It aids in opening the mouth wide, and when it slips out of place (as is what happens in TMJ patients), the muscles around that joint must work harder and against the bone to open the mouth. It cannot really ever be fixed, so you've just got to deal with it. I play goalie in wlax, so I wear a helmet. Try loosening your lower chin straps a little, but not enough to where your helmet no longer fits properly.
If that doesn't help, perhaps (though I am unsure, since I've never played with any other brand of helmet) you should try a different brand. I play with a Cascade cpro, and I've got no pain problems even after hours of games/practice/clinics.

Also - when your jaw locks up, assuming you've got time to (as I assume it'd be a little hard while on the field), press two fingers in on each side of the jaw where the joint is, and slide/pull -gently- from the side that has locked up to the other side. That should loosen it a little.

I have TMJ, if you haven't gathered, by the way. I've had it for years, when a dentist over extended my jaw during a procedure. I can't even open my mouth fully anymore (I can only fit two fingers in the space when I open it as wide as I can), but don't worry about your jaw ever getting that bad, unless you also clench your jaw/grind your teeth unconsciously.

[James]

i grind my teeth in my sleep will that screw up my jaw

[FallIntoIt]

perhaps eventually. Nothing to spaz over, though. You could go to a dentist, get a retainer to wear at night that would inhibit the grinding, and sleep with a retainer for the rest of your life, but I personally wouldn't go out and do that until a dentist recommended it. Granted, bringing it up to your dentist would probably stop the grinding before it becomes a problem, but really, who's down with preemptive strike?

[slinkyspine]

I HAD THJ there are fixes. One of them is to relaign your jaw but that hurts. I have braces so they gave me a thing to go with them to cure it. There is cures for it but many cost a small fortune.

[FallIntoIt]

Yeah. My grandmother is the manager at an orthodontist's office. She was telling me that I could have my jaw surgically realigned (via having it wired shut) but that it would just come back in a few years, and worse, because of the scartissue from having it wired shut. Then she said that braces would fix it a little longer, and that I'd have perfectly straight teeth afterward, but it would still come back.
In my book, that makes it unfixable.

[marflax33]

i grind my teeth in my sleep will that screw up my jaw

Yes it will. Go to the dentist and get a plastic retainer to go over your teeth while you sleep. Thats what he had me do and i stopped grinding in a couple of weeks.

[ColtsLax]

also, look into buying a brainpad, it a type of mouthpeice that is supposed to prevent, or in your case, lessen the occurance of, TMJ. it happens when you bite down too hard, which occurs when you need more strength, like laying a check, taking a shot, or throwing hard, also lifting weights.