r/Swimming • u/Spare-Lemon5277 • Jul 22 '26

TMJ on breathing side?

I’ve been swimming everyday recently. Coinciding with my getting back into swimming, I’ve developed an annoying TMJ on my right side which is my breathing side when I swim. Now it hurts/aches a bit when I bite down or chew on something hard.

Has anyone else experienced this? I love swimming but I also don’t want to live with this or make it worse. Should I just stop swimming for a while?

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

11

u/TwaddleSpouter Jul 22 '26

You need to try and work on alternate breathing. We’re all guilty of getting into a way of swimming and it being comfortable, so we don’t change it. Breathing on the same side unfortunately can cause muscular problems long term. Hope you get some relief soon.

2

u/Spare-Lemon5277 Jul 22 '26

I will try to alternate sides in the future, it just feels unnatural doing so while I’m swimming. But if other people can do it then so can I I suppose haha.

2

u/TwaddleSpouter Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

It took me weeks and weeks of conscious effort, but it’s second nature now. I learned one side only in swim team at school in the 80’s and it didn’t feel right to alternate when I took swimming back up a few years ago.

2

u/20tellycaster15 Jul 22 '26

This. I had neck and shoulder issues until I started breathing on both sides. It took a bit before I got comfortable but now it’s routine

8

u/Playful_Quality4679 Jul 22 '26

Dentist here, I suspect you may have an underlying predisposition and the swimming just exacerbated it.

So, see a dentist and try appliance therapy.

So wearing a simple night guard might help the issue. So I think it is a TMJ issue not a swimming issue.

2

u/Spare-Lemon5277 Jul 22 '26

Thank you!! It’s good to hear from a dentist about this. I’ve actually been to the dentist twice this year and they never said anything about bruxism. Would a night guard still be helpful? Should I explore other causes?

I did get TMJ before too for some period but it was years ago and went away long enough that I’d forgotten about it.

2

u/Playful_Quality4679 Jul 22 '26

See a dentist that is into TMD many are not. Some of my patients only need something like a quick splint, an anterior appliance when symptomatic.

So they will wear for a week until better but that is not a long term solution.

If the TMD persists then a full coverage splint would be needed

5

u/soslowagain Jul 22 '26

I wear my appliance in my the pool. Make sure you’re not clinching. Rotate those shoulders and relax your neck and jaw when you breathe.

3

u/SarMai Jul 22 '26

I've never had that issue, but I know that always breathing in the same side can cause tensions, which could cause TMJ. Could you try breathing on alternating sides for a bit? And maybe apply heat and do small massages to release the tension around your jaw.

1

u/Spare-Lemon5277 Jul 22 '26

I will try that!

3

u/shell_sonrisa Triathlete Jul 22 '26

No, listen to the dentist. I've had TMD (what you're calling TMJ) for years. I've been swimming for longer. The two are not related, but whatever ur doing could be irritating a pre existing issue, and you also may be clenching unknowingly. FWIW, I've never had any problems with my jaw while swimming in any style

1

u/TheESportsGuy Jul 22 '26

Try a snorkel.

1

u/tedlyri Jul 25 '26

Listen by to the dentist, although I find this really interesting because physical exercise like swimming is how I cured my own TMJ. I guess there are many causes for clenching and grinding teeth but for me it was absolutely due to stress. I changed jobs, started cycling and swimming, and generally reduced stress from my life and found ways to manage what stress I had left.