TMJ - anyone else?

Tupins

Hi I suffer from Temporomandibular joint disorder which is basically a problem with the jaw joint.

It can range between being uncomfortable on a good day to extremely painful on bad days. Today unfortunately I'm not having a very good day and it's hard for me to concentrate on work. I don't like to take too many pain killers so I've learned to sort of bear as much as I can pain-wise.

My GP just doles out more pain killers each time.
My dentist gave me a splint which I wear at night when I need to.
I've been to a physiotherapist who eases the pain temporarily,
to a spinologist who actually eased the pain for a few months but then it came back and just recently I've been to a cranial osteopath who really had no effect at all.

As I say I'd rather not become too dependant on pain killers but to be honest money is very tight and I just can't afford to keep going to various therapists - it's just too expensive.

I'm just wondering does any one else suffer from this or any other long term pain?

How do you deal with it? Do you know of any methods of naturally relieving pain?

It does get me down at times. I can't eat certain types of food. Also walking or running or any impact activities can be very painful. Sometimes I can't even kiss my own husband I don't want to keep harping on about it all the time but it can be hard to keep explaining to others that you are in pain.

tbh

Tuppins - I'm going to move this over the dental forum for a while, in the hope that someone there can help you. I'll leave a permanent redirect in Long Term Illness in case someone who reads that can give you advice with the pain.

You poor thing, I hope you feel better soon

an langer

Have you ever considered orthodontic treatment? They would break your jaw to reset it and give you braces for 2-3 years probably. Maybe it's something you could consider anyway. Orthodontics isn't just about making teeth straight, it can be used with TMJ too as far as I know.

E.T.

Tupins have you ever seen a TMJ specialist? I'm going to see one soon (I put up a post similar to yours about a fortnight ago, I'm in a similar situation with my TMJ). I find physio/cranio-sacral therapy really helpful, but as you say, it's not an affordable treatment over a long period of time. I can't afford to pay out €50-€100 every week. I was told years ago that I should have my jaw broken and re-set, very glad I didn't as I've been told by a few different professionals recently that it's not very effective and can cause nerve damage in a lot of cases.

Tupins

ET I saw your post AFTER I posted mine so sorry for creating second thread

In answer to your question - I've never seen a TMJ specialist. I didn't even know there were such people. I would definitely be interested in finding one though.

The whole thing about resetting jaw / orthodontics and all that is I believe that TMJ can be a symptom of another underlying problem. I happen to have mild scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and have to be careful as I can hurt my back very easily. I believe this may be the root cause as, the jaw being connected to the spine, it may be pulling it out of place.

As I mentioned I did get great relief from seeing a spinologist, who works on the principal that gently coaxing any of the strained muscles around your spinal cord will in turn naturally pull any bones which are under pressure back into place and in turn release any trapped nerves etc. The reason I stopped seeing her was firstly because money was tight and secondly she moved to an area which is very out of the way for me. I might try to see another spinologist closer to me if I can.

Also, when I saw the cranial osteopath he told me that I had some bones out of place in my head and that there was also a problem with my inner ear. I don't really know what to make of that however as I can't say I had any great pain relief while visiting him over 5 weeks. Maybe I should have given it more time but at €65 per session I really don't have it to waste

That's why I would consider braces etc might only be a temporary solution. I imagine that once they are removed, whatever was pulling my jaw out in the first place would re-occur eventually. Also, I read on the internet that a few people who've had the braces fitted for TMJ actually reported that it made it WORSE!

georgieporgy

Dr John O'Brien, 91 Upper Leeson St Dublin (01 6680599), is probably the best person to see about this. He is a dentist with a practice limited to pain and TMJ issues.

This is not to say that other dentists can't handle the problem. I know Dr O'Brien and have sent him some patients with happy outcomes.

suzieb

I'd second John O Brien on this. He also does a clinic in the crescent clinic in clontarf afaik. He is a pain specialist and goes into a lot of detail.
Will cost you good bit for consultation though so be prepared,might be about €150. Check with them first.

Tupins

Will cost more than that seeing as I live in Cork

PureBred

I started gettig this about 2 weeks ago. Went to dentist 3 times in the last 2 weeks as pain felt like it was in my teeth. 2 xrays and no tooth problems. It went for a few days but today it back again and its killing me! Surely there must be some remedy for this other than Solphedine and alcohol!! Its only on the left side of my face and no rubbing etc relieves it. Please help!

georgieporgy

I think he has a clinic in PortLaoise also. At least he used to some time ago.

There are also a few good guys in the Cork Dental hosp, and around town also ( or do you Cork people call it 'city'?) ha ha . Ask for prof Duncan Sleeman and he will point you in the right direction.

E.T.

ricfeen wrote: »

I started gettig this about 2 weeks ago. Went to dentist 3 times in the last 2 weeks as pain felt like it was in my teeth. 2 xrays and no tooth problems. It went for a few days but today it back again and its killing me! Surely there must be some remedy for this other than Solphedine and alcohol!! Its only on the left side of my face and no rubbing etc relieves it. Please help!

I had something like this recently just in one tooth, was sent to a specialist for x-rays to see if I needed a root canal. I've never had a toothache before but my TMJ had been awful for a few weeks. Solpadeine was getting rid of some of the pain but it wasn't hitting the pain that felt like it was inside my tooth, so I was told it's probably nerve pain, probably due somehow to the TMJ. Fun fun fun! I've had physio on my face and jaw a few times since then and the tooth pain went away but I was told to ask my GP for nerve painkillers if it happens again.

E.T.

Tupins, I pm-ed you the name of a specialist I'm due to see

Tupins

I've just come accross some videos here which people may find useful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O8ArvMOzqQ