TMJ specialist appointment - X posted in Dental

[babygrant]

I've had problems with my jaw ever since I got my wisdom teeth out back in 1999. I had a TMJ arthroscopy back in 2001. Between 1999 and 2001 I tried a bite guard and it left me in excrutiating pain. I take no pain medications on a regular basis. I can't eat super chewy foods or foods that make me open my mouth too far. My jaw crunches when I open it. It's beyond painful. And this was way TMI to tell the dentist, but this also affects my marriage because I've never been able to.....er....you can imagine with my DH.

So I finally caved and went for a K7 records appointment. It's a 2 hour appointment and they do x-rays, take imprints, do a muscle test thing with the electrodes on the face. An it's $500.00.

So I finish my appointment and come out with a whole list of what is wrong with my mouth/jaw. On my left jaw joint, the ball part of my joint is almost square shaped and has a bone spur coming off of it. The ball also has no space between it and the socket. The ball is up in the tissue. So in the sonogram it detected the grinding sound I've been hearing. So whenever I open my mouth the bone spur grinds into the tissue in the joint. Then the dentist measured my jaw and then the pallet depth. He said that my upper jaw is very small and that the lower jaw is bending inwards to keep in line with upper jaw. I could actually see my back teeth bending inwards in the photos. And my pallet is VERY high (they said).

I go back on thursday to go over treatment options but the one option mentioned to me today is an orthotic device which is $3,000.00 and is NOT covered by dental. I couldn't even afford a $500.00 device. So I'm happy that I'm finally getting some answers as to why my jaw hurts so darn much....but I'm sad and depressed that I can't do a thing about it.

The only time I haven't had a problem with my jaw is when I consumed a complete liquid diet. I've tried a soft food diet and because there was still chewing involved, it still hurt.

I don't know what to do. I've gone to my doctor and she can't do anything, she tells me to go see a dentist. I've seen 3 other dentists and they won't do anything because I had surgery with another dentist.

[californiajenn]

I also have TMJ and have learned so much about it lately.

First, I would check out this site: http://www.ctds.info/index.html

Each person is different but the first thing I would do is start supplementing magnesium with epsom salt baths and/or magnesium lotion. It will help relax the muscles in your jaw and hopefully decrease your pain a bit. Next, research hyaluronic acid abnormalites and the supplements SAMe and Molybdenum.

Here are some other links that may help:
http://www.rainbowminerals.net/histamine_factor.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers-Danlos_syndrome

I started seeing a cranial sacral chiropractor and massage therapist. These two have helped so much! They both recommend yoga (along with my ND and MD) which I just started again today.

The chiro gave me an excercise to help the muscles move in the right direction. Make your front top and bottom teeth come together. Use your finger to see if they meet up. For instance, I have a tiny, tiny overbite so I move my lower jaw forward just a tad so the teeth meet. Then open and close your mouth multiple times. Keep your finger there if needed. Do this as often as possible.

This, combined with removing knots and scar tissue from my jaw and neck, let my jaw move almost normally just last week. Well, I know my espsom salt baths and foot soaks helped too. My chiro was amazed I made so much progress so quickly.

Good luck!

[babygrant]

Originally Posted by californiajenn

Each person is different but the first thing I would do is start supplementing magnesium with epsom salt baths and/or magnesium lotion. It will help relax the muscles in your jaw and hopefully decrease your pain a bit. Next, research hyaluronic acid abnormalites and the supplements SAMe and Molybdenum.

The chiro gave me an excercise to help the muscles move in the right direction. Make your front top and bottom teeth come together. Use your finger to see if they meet up. For instance, I have a tiny, tiny overbite so I move my lower jaw forward just a tad so the teeth meet. Then open and close your mouth multiple times. Keep your finger there if needed. Do this as often as possible.

This, combined with removing knots and scar tissue from my jaw and neck, let my jaw move almost normally just last week.

Ok magnesium I have. I'll have to go look for magnesium lotion.

I actually saw a physio therapist last year and he gave me tons of exercises to do, none of which are helping. I think it must be that bone spur that is making it hurt so much.

Did you get the knots and scar tissue removed surgically?

[californiajenn]

In your case, hyaluronic acid may be the most needed. I don't seem to need to supplement it (yet, sigh) so I don't know tons about it.

The chiro and massage therapist used a rounded metal stick to scrap the tissue smooth. It sure doesn't feel good but it made the biggest difference.

That said, my jaw still isn't perfect but it's a lot better.

[babygrant]

Originally Posted by babygrant

Ok magnesium I have. I'll have to go look for magnesium lotion.

I took a 250 mg capsule of magnesium when I ate my lunch and I have a stomach ache.

I'm confused about the scar tissue in your jaw. All the scar tissue that was removed during the arthroscopy came from inside the jaw joint. That's all back now plus the bone spur. I can't quite figure out how the dentist can even think the problem can be fixed with an orthotic device when that bone spur is still there???

[californiajenn]

I can't take oral mag by itself b/c it bothers me too. I have much better results with epsom salt baths and foot soaks. I'm going to make a lotion with coconut oil, epsom salts, water, and vegetable glycerin soon. Hopefully it will turn out well.

My chiro was just to the point of referring me for an orthodic but I don't seem to need it now so I don't know much about it either, sorry.

Do you have any other heath issues? Intestinal, bloating after eating, food intolerances, allergies, myopia, anxiety, inflammation?

[babygrant]

Originally Posted by californiajenn

Do you have any other heath issues? Intestinal, bloating after eating, food intolerances, allergies, myopia, anxiety, inflammation?

I've got checked with the VEGA machine for intolerances but haven't followed the test results (dairy, wheat, eggs, citrus, etc). I suffer from constant canker sores, a significant amount of heartburn, panic attacks, and I'm also wondering if I should be getting checked for arthritis because I'm 99.9% sure I have it in my fingers. Maybe it's arthritis in my jaw, especially with the bone spurs and degeneration.

[californiajenn]

Did you look at the links I posted? The first one especially will help you put this all together.

Your TMJ is just a symptom of a larger problem; trust me I know. I'm going to copy something I posted on another board. I'll warn you it's long.
********************

As most of you know, in March of last year I developed some food sensitivites. It started with dairy and then quickly cascaded to include gluten, corn, refined sugar, most citrus, and hard ciders/wine. It wasn't easy but I learned to cook good meals and was OK.

In the last couple months, I started reacting to new things like honey and got soooo fed up. I went back to my ND for allergy testing (IgG) and to get some support. My tests came back with a high intolerance to aspergillus niger, a very common mold that lives everywhere including regular fresh and dried food and leftovers; and casein which wasn't a huge surprise. I have a moderate intolerance to vanilla and eggs. Eggs could be a false positive as I'm fully vaccinated and eggs are used to make them, as I'm sure you all know.

Losing eggs has been SO HARD. Seriously. I was able to maintain a semblance of normalcy but it's nearly impossible now.

Big deal, I can't have dairy or eggs right? Well, if it were that easy it wouldn't be awful actually.

I think I have a mild connective tissue disorder, level 4; small intestine bacterial overgrowth; AND the mold intolerance. I've spent the last two weeks reading every journal and anecdotal article I could get my hands on. I ran this quickly by my chiro and ND and they both agree this is very likely. We'll be running some tests within the next couple weeks to confirm. Plus, I started the GAPS intro diet which helped me narrow down foods I was reacting to.

The Connective Tissue Disorder; Level 4 presents as -Thin, tall, long arms and legs, thin nose and lips, small/no ear lopes, lots of cavities, TMJ, near-sightedness, asthma, and/or jaw abnormalities, etc. This is ME! This disorder isn't life threatening or anything for me (as far as I can tell) but makes me susceptible to low magnesium and more knotting in my muscles. I had jaw surgery when I was 17 to correct an underbite and it may have been the most severe problem I'll have with it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers-Danlos_syndrome

The small bacterial overgrowth has done 4 things:
1. depleted diomine oxidase enzyme levels which regulate histamine. Histamine foods include grains, berries, citrus, tomatoes, spinach, chicken, some fish, etc.
2. taxed my adrenals which help process sugars
3. Given me other food intolerances, though most if not all can be linked to the IgG tests and histamine intolerance. I don't seem to process apples or pears very well at the moment. The small intestine is responsible for processing fructose which both pears and apples are very high in.

Ironically a low histamine diet very closes resembles a low A. niger diet. I'm OK with most meats and all vegetables as of now but not much else. Oh, and it's best if they are freshly prepared each and every meal. If I cheat, the minimum symptom I get is a tight throat. If I actually eat something as opposed to taste, my ears get inflammed and fill with fluid and my neck and upper back starts knotting up. If I thow it all to the wind for a few days, it moves into my sinus passage and effects my asthma.

I think mold and stress sent me over the edge, so to speak. The last house we lived in had a lot of mold in the bedroom. This mold uses up a lot of magnesium and likes sugar which goes hand in hand with the other issues. It also needs zinc, which helps with stomach acid.

It's been hard to figure this stuff out b/c I don't have intestinal issues unless I go really overboard and that's just recent. Plus, most people that do GAPS intro have lots of die off symptoms and I had almost none. I have lost weight and don't want to lose more.

So, there it is. I'm so glad I've figured it out (hopefully) but I'm stuck on how to fix it all. Fermented foods help with stomach acid and bacterial battles but it feeds the mold and is screaming high in histamines. I have some supplements but it's a delicate balancing act. I took a few supplements but it caused me to need others so I've cut a lot out. Injections may be a better may to go as I'm probably not absorbing them well. Epsom salt (magnesium) foots soaks help a bunch. I've also ordered an enzyme to help with the histamine. It's new and made from pig kidney. I'm trying to figure out if I can just eat pieces of the damn kidney as this enzyme is over $1 a pill! (EWW, pig kidney...) I also bought a new latex bed today and am getting an air purifier.

I'm going to see a new doc a friend recommended. She, her 2 children, and mother all had food intolerances and this doc cleared them; they eat whatever they want now. I think she uses something like NAET or BioSET. It sounded very suspicious at first but there seems to be an internet success rate around 50% and at this point I'm willing to try just about anything.

The good news is I get to trial eggs next week. I reallllllllly hope I get them back.

******************************

So there you go. I bet anything you can at least get more comfortable.
Please read this site: http://www.ctds.info/index.html. It's not mine but I'm about ready to email the site owner to thank her for putting out the info.

Next, cut out those sensitivites! Seriously. They are causing inflammation and making your jaw worse. I know it seems overwhelming but you will be in less pain. Try cutting out one thing at a time, dairy first, then gluten, citrus, then eggs. Or just go on the GAPS intro and get all of the bad bugs out at once.

Add copious amounts of bone broth and veggies and cut back or out grains.

Find a good massage therapist that can help relax some of the muscles so your joint gets a little rest.

Finally, research hyaluronic acid supplements. I really think it might help you get some relief while figuring it all out.

[MoonWillow]

Feel free to join the existing thread here.