My Tmj Problem - Any Advice?

Hi, I am going in for a surgery this next friday so I know exactly what you are going through. I think that the next step for you would be to go find an lvi dentist in your area. I have one and he is the best doctor in the world. Lvi dentists are very good at what they do. I used to grind my teeth and clench too. Now that an lvi dentist moved my jaw and retrained the muscles to their proper position, I dont do either. To find one in your area go to


Yes I also think that it would be a very good idea to find a good chiropractor. I go to an atlas orthoganist---they are the best at treating tmd patients as the atlas plays a very important role in the jaw. I never had any releif untill I went to an atlas orthoganist. The fact that one of your legs is shorter than the other shows me that you are way out of alignment. Posture(which is your alignment) is also essential to controlling tmd.

I have much of the same symptoms that you have. I have had every treatment possible done with no results. I have done so much reasearch that I am sure that this would help you. I hope that it does. Please let me know how things go for you.

Also there is a very good chat room/forum that has given me support throuout this all. Its tmjfriends.Com----we are all in the boat together---feel free to join us. You can ask questions and share your experiences with us. Hope to see you there.


Dyan

Thanks for the help dyanmatteson.
I will make an appointment with a chiropractor but I would just like to ask: do you have pain in the tmj itself or just the muscles? I don't feel any pain in the joint itself, just pain from the 'lumps/knots' on the muscles in front of the joint.

The maxilo-facial surgeon I went to told me that the disc is in place and surgery in my specific case wouldn't help because the disc doesn't need to be sewn in place. He did however say there might be some scar tissue, but as I already said I don't feel any pain in the joint, just the muscles. I have no pain eating and eating actually makes my jaw feel better. He believes that my grinding of teeth when i'm sleeping is not allowing the muscle to rest....But I don't know if the problem could be so simple.

I didnt have pain in the joint for a very long time. I have muscle spasms and muscle pain all the time.Now the pain has effected the joint as well as I hit bone to bone when I open. The chiropractor was the one that helped with those. He put everything back in line and even adjusted the jaw so that it was in the proper place so the muscles could relax. What we didnt know was that my discs were out of place for 15 years(hence no improvement) the chiropractor was what helped the most. I do beleive that the lvi dentist could help you stop the clenching and grinding. Sometimes the fix is simple. Other times its not so simple. It is best to go for the simple things befor it gets too complex like mine. The problem with me is that we didnt know what it was for a long time. By that time the simple things didnt work. Get a head start on it. The fact that your discs are in place is a good sign that chiropractic may help you imensly and that may be as far as you have to go. However I would go and get a splint made so that your teeth are protected from damage from grinding and clenching. Ive seen pictures of people that have ground their teeth down to nothing. I dont want that happening to you or anyone else. Keep your chin up and remember that im here if you need anything.


Whatever you do remember that this doesnt rule your life----you rule it. If you let tmj take over you will be miserable( I was almost there). A good friend of mine said "tmj dont have me---i have tmj" the key is to stay positive.


Let me know how you get on. If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask :d

dyan

Hi jpz,
what your doctor is saying could be true, especially about the scar tissue. I personally don't recommend chiropractors for tmj sufferers, which is funny since it was a chiro many years ago who broke up my 24/7 constant tmj pain. What this chiropractor did that helped was massage inside my mouth. Intraoral massage is still helpful to this day whenever I am in a flare-up. What I don't like about chiropractics for tmj is that they want to focus so much on the back and i've come to believe that "cracking" or "popping" is not particularly good for the body.

I personally recommend physical or massage therapy. Good therapeutic massage should be able to break up any scar adhesions you might have and it can make a big dent with muscle spasms, etc. Deep heat ultrasound would probably be very helpful for you also. See if your doctor can give you a referral to pt (one who is educated and very familiar with tmj). Or, seek a massage therapist who is trained in tmj.

With a bite splint and muscle relaxants, you really shouldn't be having so much problem with grinding your teeth at night. When is the last time you had the bite splint adjusted?

You might want to consider an anti-depressant and take it at night. I take prozac for my tmj but since it is an ssri, which they have found can cause night-time bruxism, I have added a very low dose of buspar and that counteracts that potential problem. I have weaned off of prozac a few times and every time my tmj went absolutely crazy, so I am a firm believer in the ssri anti-depressant.

Another idea for your muscle knots - trigger point injections. I personally have not had any, but I have been told that they really help. I believe you have to go to a pain management clinic or doctor for such injections, but also ask your tmj dentist if he does them.

Hang in there and do all the research you can. Be careful about having anything done invasively or irreversible. Tmj is best treated conservatively in my opinion. Bite splints with adjustments, posture awareness, massage/physical therapy, anti-depressants and/or other medications, and moist heat and/or ice seem to work the most effectively and least harmful for the body.

God bless...
Carol
catswolds (formerly catswold)

Thanks dyan and carol for the help and support, I really appreciate it.

Carol, with regards to my bite plate it's the type that doesn't have any adjustments to it, it's just a plain plate made from a mould of my mouth.

Alongside seeing a chiropractor I think I will have to see a physio again because I think i'm experiencing a flare-up. I will also ask my doctor for some prozac and buspar but i'm worried he thinks i'm a drug addict or something because i'm already on inza 400-800 and norflex 100.

Dyan, I know what you mean when you say that tmj shouldn't rule one's life, and thankfully i've managing to dig myself out of that problem. I'm trying my best to live a good social life and ignore the pain but it's tough. My biggest problem is my studies....Since i'm struggling to concentrate.
I find that going out and talking with friends distracts me from the discomfert so my tmj has strangely made me more social than I once was, which is quite ironic.

You are more than welcome for the help. I firmly beleive in my chiropractor. I know that some people dont agree on me for that one. However there is a direct connection. Everyone is different and what works for one may not work for another.

My social life went down the drain. I can barely eat so I avoid going out. Talking hurts, eating hurts and when im not using it it hurts. Im glad that you have a good social life--its important.

I personally dont agree with the drugs because I find I do more damage with them than without them. Thats just my opinion. Im not on anything.


Hang in there and know im here if you need me
dyan

Something the doctor told me which I don't quite understand is: if there's some scar tissue in my joint then why don't I feel pain or discomfert in the joint itself and only in the muscles? It's like I can feel the muscle pushing into my face...It's hard to explain

I have scar tissue but I didnt feel pain for a long time. Its one of those weird things about tmd. Also be aware that it can referr pain. You know earaches, tooth aches, headaches back aches etc. I never know if im sick or not. I think that to a certain extent perhaps the scar tissue prevents us from moving so far that we feel pain. When we finally break it up a little we go farther so we feel pain. I dont know its just a guess. Your joint could be out of joint as well pushing your muscles----id have the doctor show you what he means on a diagram. That has always been helpful for me. I hope to see you over at tmjfriends sometime :wink: they could probably help you more---and you will find someone who has this symptom and explain it to you.


Dyan

Jpz,
it's quite common to have a problem in one place but the pain is referred to another body part. Tmj is very much like that. I have dislocated discs but do not have joint pain very often. My face muscles used to hurt all the time when I was in a tmj flare-up and it went down my neck to my shoulders. My tmj stays relatively calm now because of some life style changes I recently made (changed job for less stress and less talking was a big change).

Tmj is very difficult to diagnose because it refers pain to other parts of the body - migraines, sinus problems, tooth aches - these are just a few referred symptoms.

God bless...
Carol

Have you heard anything about serenitol?

Have you heard anything about serenitol?