hello all with TMJ,

what kind of "doctor" does one go to for treatment for TMJ?

PT? a TMJ specialist?

i called my dentist office to ask them as well.......

also, what home remedies work? ice? heat? other?

i know for sure that "stretching" is not the answer. only aggravates it.

i've ignored this for the last few years, mostly just being careful not to yawn too widely or eat anything too big and hard, but its now at a point that it just plain hurts, all on its own. left side, where the joint is up just in front of the ear.

not really looking for overall systemic solution, already working on that with my rheumy and other doctors.

but sometimes even when managing overall ok, there will be a joint that needs a bit of extra attention for a bit.

thanks in advance for sharing your experience with TMJ.

Hi Sue,

I don't have TMJ, I have inflammation in my joint from the A/S and has fused, so I have very little mobility in my jaw. If you have TMJ a dentist will want you wearing a mouth gaurd at night to prevent the grinding and the inflammation. Mine is from the A/S and has nothing to do with TMJ. I do use ice and of course the fish Oil. The fusing has happened so I don't get much pain , now, compared to how it was . They use to inject steroids into the joints for some relief. My dental appointments are very interesting, and almost impossible. I can't open my jaw enough to eat a banana, and forget eating a hamburger . My rheumy said that it isn't very common for this to happen with A/S or an other arthritis, but if it becomes life threatening, they will break my jaw and reset it. That doesn't sound very nice, but that is what he told me. He did say it may not fuse anymore,so that would be good


Janet

I got advice from my dentist - kind of by accident, as I was just telling him that I wasn't going to be able to open my mouth very wide. He showed me how to "unlock" my jaw if it locked up (not the way I would have thought) and gave me a bit of a lesson on jaw anatomy, so I understood what kind of movements not to do. If you want more than that, then I guess a maxillo-facial surgeon (though like all surgeons their first thoughts will be to operate)

thanks janet,

i said TMJ, meaning the joint hurts, but it may be like what you've had to deal with.

i had a mouth guard, but it didn't seem to be doing any good. if anything, it seemed to make my jaw joint hurt more. then the next dentist said i didn't grind my teeth. so will be interesting to see what this dentist says.

i know he wants me to go in for a special study of my jaw alignment. maybe i should do that. that might help.

i didn't know you could inject it with cortisone. that could be an option for me. i respond very well to cortisone.

good to know there are options. right now i think i need to ice it or something. this is really the first time it just aches, all day, just sitting here. after i yawned last night. and then tried to eat this morning. but not after sleeping, so don't think its due to tooth grinding, but the dentist can sort it out better.

and the only way i can get through a dental appointment is with zanaflex. for as many years as i can remember, i can not hold my mouth open for any period of time; the zanaflex makes it a bit more doable.

hi cemc,

so, can you explain how to "unlock the jaw"

and can you explain what movements to not do!

sometimes its knowing what to avoid that can help.

Hi Sue,

I can't help you with how to unlock your jaw. Mine just slowly fused. It is better now that it has fused, not nearly the pain. I would suggest to get an x-ray and see if there is changes in that joint.

Janet

Hi, sue:

Regret TMJ Syndrome was a real problem with me in past.

My friend with Crohn's had it, too.

I look at TMJ as a kind of mechanical filter: The meat patty goes in but the buns fall harmlessly to the floor.

But that is no help when I was on my way to the dentist. And it takes getting out of inflammation so that this joint will not eventually fuse.

Once, I was experimenting with a Beck 'bioelectrifier' that I built; a redesign that worked quite well. This puts a pulse of electricity across the skin, and is used in conjunction with colloidal silver usually, but I had just hooked this thing up to myself and it was pulsing away for about a minute when my mouth suddenly closed--jaw relaxed fully and was totally normal after being stuck only slightly open for a week.

TMJ is an annoying thing, but it is just another sign of improperly treated disease (common in AS and uncommon in RA).

I always had a bias; one side worse than the other--crooked smile.

Good Luck with it,
John

Sue, what he described to me was exactly where the joint was, and in which direction you needed to move it, if it got stuck. You'd need someone to show you properly, but its basically pushing the chin back (into your head)with your mouth more or less closed rather than trying to open your mouth wider (which will just cause more problems, but is often your first instinct). The angle the jaw joint is at means that technique is more likely to release it.

thanks john,

i do agree with you, "just another signal" that the inflammatory disease still needs to be controlled better. working on that

and must say between the diet (finding out i had a casein allergy was a major revelation!), supplements, drugs, chiro, and maybe acupuncture (though as time goes on, i doubt its helping, maybe helping my GI, that's why i keep at it, as that's a vital link) i'm better than i used to be, but not there yet. maybe leaky gut takes time to heal?

so, like most of these symptoms, its a long term plan (getting out of inflammation as you say) and short term plan (how to minimize the symptoms now while working on the long term plan).

just got back from the chiro. he did a bunch of soft tissue work on my neck / head / shoulder area. it does feel a bit better.

and watched a video showing botox injections to relax the muscles.

while i know its a joint inflammation problem, muscle tightness / muscle spasms join the party, and so sometimes getting the muscles to calm down (like they've done in my upper back with trigger point injections) can help overall.

i do wonder if its the bone spurs in the neck in the facet joints on that side that are contributing. i often have a lot of numbness in my jaw, side of face on that side when my neck acts up. nerves being impinged. since its all on the left side, wonder if its a contributing factor. think that's partly why the chiro addressed my neck today. we hadn't done that for awhile. (no cranking on it! just gently soft tissue work)

thanks cemc,

that's actually crystal clear! thanks!

makes sense. while major our first inclination is to stretch, sometimes the opposite is the way to go.

when my muscles spasm, its actually easier to calm them down by counterstrain than by stretching. stretching something already angry always makes it angrier in me. PTs have taught me the beauty of counterstrain to relax muscles.

what you describe sounds very similar.