Well hello old friends. I have been away from this forum for too long for a variety of crazy reasons but I know where to turn when I need intelligent, thoughtful advice.
I have been troubled with acute TMJD (Temporomandibular Joint disfunction) for the past year. It started with clicking and popping in my right jaw joint, progressed to locking and then I woke one day last June with it locked tight in a closed position. I “popped” it open and haven’t been the same since. My mouth wouldn’t open normally, I had pain on chewing and random pain in my jaw, ear, neck and temple.
Long story short, my doctor sent me to PT and I also went to my chiropractor for help. Nothing worked. I ended up at a very well-reputed hospital oral surgery group that specializes in TMJD and other myofacial pain disorders. They sent me for another round of PT, a course of muscle relaxants and ibuprofen and still nothing worked. I was finally scheduled for Arthroscopy of my right jaw in March. I researched the procedure to death and got a second opinion (he agreed with the surgical approach). The odds I was given were 80 percent of patients see improvement in pain levels and function after this procedure.
After the surgery I felt wonderful! I had great range of motion and almost no pain. I went for my follow up a week later and I was declared a success story.
Until a week ago when the pain returned. Now it is as bad if not worse than it was before. My range of motion has decreased and I am very discouraged. I have an appointment with the surgeon next week and I am certain that he is going to recommend open joint surgery and removal of the disk that is displaced in my joint.
I wonder if any of you have any experience with TMJD, surgery for the jaw, etc. I am reading many varying opinions online and am very nervous that my options may be a risky surgery with no guarantee of success or a lifetime of chronic pain.
I’m so sorry. I’ve had a lifetime of issues. Have you checked your bite? I did invisalign to help but during treatment had the worst flare up of my life. I was nearly unable to get out of bed, especially with flexeril and pain meds. I’ve never done the surgery but I understand the desperation.
I sure hope you can get some good results and I hope you’re going to a top notch specialist.
I feel for you as I have a family member with TMD. We have not looked into surgery (never got an MRI) - but each case of this is unique and usually complicated by many factors. It is also a vicious cycle as not feeling well depresses you and causes you to be stressed which puts pressure on your jaw.
Try to figure out what happened that has restarted your pain - did something physical happen, something stressful in your life, are you not sleeping well (grinding?), etc. I wouldn’t jump into another surgery without pursuing other avenues first (including possible behaviour modifications/stress reduction things - yoga, etc.)
I’ve had TMJD for years and wear a plastic splint over my top teeth when I sleep. I also have trained myself to keep my lips together and my teeth apart. I still have occasional headaches but for the most part it works quite well. I never even considered surgery.
More than 20 years ago I developed TMJ. I initially noticed a minute change in my bite, alignment of the upper and lower teeth, which developed into difficulty chewing, opening my mouth, etc and pain.
I was successfully treated by a colleague of Joseph J. Marbach, who specialized in the treatment of facial pain. Suggest you google his name to find relevant articles.
I believe there have been advances in treatment options. Decades ago surgery was not recommended.
Treatment of TMJ is complex because it falls under both dentistry & medicine. And, insurance coverage is complicated because of this.
My pain was caused primarily from muscle spasms. The most aggressive treatment was muscle relaxant injected once just under my cheek bone, probably in the masseter (I don’t recall the name now), which was bliss, calmed the systemic problem. In retrospect, botox was probably used.
I also routinely did exercises to relax/stretch the muscles & took NSAIDs for pain. And, when I had to have a crown for a molar, that procedure re-adjusted my bite, at which point I could decrease my use of NSAIDs.
Now, I believe muscle spasms in my neck contribute to the problem.
Good luck to you. and, mostly I hope you’re able to alleviate the pain.
Thank you everyone. I do wear a bite guard at night but it doesn’t seem to help. Some days are good (today) and some are horrible (yesterday) and I can’t seem to figure out what makes the difference. I am definitely not going to jump into another surgery. although it’s easy to say that today when I feel good. I am going back to the surgeon on Tuesday to see what he thinks about this recurrence. Once I have information from him, I will decide on a douse of action that may include acupuncture, massage, etc.
It IS depressing to think that I might have chronic pain from this forever.