rubato
03-09-2005, 11:44 PM
Hi everyone. I keep reading all these horror stories over and over about surgery and how bad off everyone is after having them. So, I thought I'd start a post for those few(or so it seems) who have had success.
It's been a month and a half since my discectomy, and I haven't felt this good in ages. My pain, without opening is gone! I never thought I'd be able to say that again. With opening, I have a pain of about 3-5 on one side only. I can live with that. I am off pain medication, and am about to ask to get off my muscle relaxer and anti inflammatory medication. I'm not even sure I need my anti depressant anymore. I still have some clicking and this new whooshing sound which I think is my condyle rubbing on something. My nerve issues with my cheek and head are getting better (I'm not as numb as I was the first month after surgery), so I guess that's not permanent. So, one successful surgery.
Please, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to take anything away from all you guys who are having trouble. I've read your stories and I feel awful for all of you. It's just that sometimes, it works. So, does anyone else have a success story?
Tandy :wave:
It's been a month and a half since my discectomy, and I haven't felt this good in ages. My pain, without opening is gone! I never thought I'd be able to say that again. With opening, I have a pain of about 3-5 on one side only. I can live with that. I am off pain medication, and am about to ask to get off my muscle relaxer and anti inflammatory medication. I'm not even sure I need my anti depressant anymore. I still have some clicking and this new whooshing sound which I think is my condyle rubbing on something. My nerve issues with my cheek and head are getting better (I'm not as numb as I was the first month after surgery), so I guess that's not permanent. So, one successful surgery.
Please, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to take anything away from all you guys who are having trouble. I've read your stories and I feel awful for all of you. It's just that sometimes, it works. So, does anyone else have a success story?
Tandy :wave:
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pwc
03-10-2005, 12:57 PM
dear rubato,
i am so, so happy to hear of your progress and hope you have a very long run with your improved functional condition. i am glad you continue to see noticeable improvements. at 5 months out of my arthroscopic surgery (L- partial discectomy, R- reposition & suture disc) i wish i felt half as good as you say you do.
i am so, so happy to hear of your progress and hope you have a very long run with your improved functional condition. i am glad you continue to see noticeable improvements. at 5 months out of my arthroscopic surgery (L- partial discectomy, R- reposition & suture disc) i wish i felt half as good as you say you do.
pwc
03-10-2005, 05:01 PM
rubato, curious - do you have the pain on the side where you had the discectomy? and, may i ask - what mm is your opening? can you move your jaw laterally? if so, about how many mm? i'm just curious and i hope i'm not being too personal but you seem to have had the same (or almost the same) procedure as i did and have gone through pt as i did. i'd just like a basis for a comparison so i can see if there may be a light at the end of my tunnel too. thanks so much. and, once again - i'm glad you feel so much better. p.s. did you ever ask your surgeon if he cut the ligaments that held your disc when he resutured it?
rubato
03-11-2005, 11:23 AM
Hi PWC. Don't ever worry about asking questions. I'm sorry to hear things still aren't going well for you. My doc did not cut any ligaments, so we'll see if the disc stays in place on the left. He just pushed it back in and sutured it. He said it was so perforated, it'd probably need to be removed at some point anyway. Yes, my pain is on the discectomy side. It's a much more invasive surgery, so I'm hoping it gets a little better, but if not, that's okay. I have managed to get a 41mm opening at this point. Lateral is 9mm on the good side and 7mm when I move my right. I'm still deviating a little, but after pt, I don't deviate at all. I just worry about when I start chewing again. This time I realize that certain things are off limits forever, but on Aug. 1st, I'm going to get to actually chew a piece of food. And, believe me, I will! ;) I hope I don't start backsliding. I did go for a run this week. It didn't add too much pain and, what pain it did, was gone by the next day. Thanks for all your kind words. And, I really do hope you start to improve. I'm guessing that the cut ligaments have made your healing process a lot longer. What is your doctor saying when you go see him or her? Are you where they expected you to be at this point? Keep me updated. Good luck.
Tandy :)
Tandy :)
pwc
03-13-2005, 07:55 PM
hi rubato,
thank you for sharing all your info and answering my questions. i'm certainly not at the point where you are and my surgeon is answering my pointed questions with very generalized answers. he told me i would be chewing at 4 weeks post op. i am 5 months post op and still only able to consume liquids. my omf surgeon, my 2 dentists, and 2 specialists i saw post op all say my surgeon "did too much" and cannot believe how much damage the surgery caused. 3 of them saw me pre-op and saw me at a level i can only hope to get BACK to. tandy, thanks again.
thank you for sharing all your info and answering my questions. i'm certainly not at the point where you are and my surgeon is answering my pointed questions with very generalized answers. he told me i would be chewing at 4 weeks post op. i am 5 months post op and still only able to consume liquids. my omf surgeon, my 2 dentists, and 2 specialists i saw post op all say my surgeon "did too much" and cannot believe how much damage the surgery caused. 3 of them saw me pre-op and saw me at a level i can only hope to get BACK to. tandy, thanks again.
juulie
03-15-2005, 02:40 PM
Tandy,
So glad to hear you are doing well. I'm also considering disectomy without replacement on the left side only. My right side is fine.
Just so I understand, your surgeon took the left disc and sutured it into place, then removed the right disc completely, correct?
Thanks, Julie
So glad to hear you are doing well. I'm also considering disectomy without replacement on the left side only. My right side is fine.
Just so I understand, your surgeon took the left disc and sutured it into place, then removed the right disc completely, correct?
Thanks, Julie
rubato
03-15-2005, 03:45 PM
Hi Juulie. Yes, right disc removed. Left put back in place. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. What has led you to possibly having surgery? Have you tried other options?
Tandy
Tandy
juulie
03-15-2005, 05:11 PM
Oh yes, I have tried everything. Four different TMJ specialists, splints, arthocentisis, alternative therapies, botox, physical therapy ... you name it. I have spent a fortune and still live in pain daily. I have been taking many muscle relaxers and narcotics for about 1.5 years. I get bilateral temporal headaches, joint pain, jawline pain and it all extends to the neck and shoulders. I've had other tests (labs, CT scan of brain, etc.) to rule out any other disorders and like my primary care doctors says... on paper I look perfectly healthy.
An MRI of my TMJ's show a left disc displacement without reduction, erosion of the condolye and bone spurring. No splint or PT has been able to move the disc back and I've been told that due to the erosion of the bone and the probable holes in the disc, it will never move back into the proper position. My pain management doctor says don't do the surgery, we'll keep you on pain meds the rest of your life. Yeah, that sounds great, doesn't it? Plus, the pain med's and muscle relaxers don't completely do the job. I am 32 and would like to have kids one day. I'm really restling with what to do next. I had arthrocentisis one month ago and have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon on Thursday. We'll see what he wants to do next since the arthro did not work.
Julie
An MRI of my TMJ's show a left disc displacement without reduction, erosion of the condolye and bone spurring. No splint or PT has been able to move the disc back and I've been told that due to the erosion of the bone and the probable holes in the disc, it will never move back into the proper position. My pain management doctor says don't do the surgery, we'll keep you on pain meds the rest of your life. Yeah, that sounds great, doesn't it? Plus, the pain med's and muscle relaxers don't completely do the job. I am 32 and would like to have kids one day. I'm really restling with what to do next. I had arthrocentisis one month ago and have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon on Thursday. We'll see what he wants to do next since the arthro did not work.
Julie
rubato
03-15-2005, 05:56 PM
Well good luck. I hope he has some answers. I know that, for me personally, the surgery was all I had left. It is amazing to me how good I'm doing. Of course, I don't get to start chewing for another 4 months, so we'll see how I feel then. Before the surgery, I was in a significant amount of pain. My opening was okay, because the disc no longer posed an imposition to my joint opening. It was so full of holes and shredded, it didn't get in the way. But, the pain was incredible. I am still dealing with a lot of back and shoulder aching and stiffness, but I've become very accustomed to that. This is my 2nd surgery. I just had the discs respositioned last time. And, I lived relatively pain free for about 9 years afterward. It wasn't until about a year ago that I went downhill again. My doctor knew during the surgery last time that I would be needing another surgery. He didn't realize the disc was so perforated until he was in there repostitioning them. And, then, this time while he was in there, he noticed that my condyle is now slightly damaged because I decided to leave the disc in there for so long. Oh well. It's still worth it to me. I'm hoping to get to a point where I can live an almost normal existence. :) Yeah, right, what's that? I really hope that you can come up with the right plan for you. It's so hard to know which way to go. There are so many options and ways to go, but so many of the things don't work. I know that for some, living with pain management is the wrong way to go. For others, the thought of surgery is terrifying, and if they have to be on pain pills for the rest of their lives, it's still better than surgery. The most important thing to remember is: you can't go back. Once you've had the surgery, that's it. A lot of people say that one surgery leads to another. It's kind of true. Once you decide to go that route, you tend to be willing to go that route again. And, since tmj is so complex, there's usually more than one contributing factor. If you go in and get a discectomy, you may have to go in later and have your condyle replaced. And, then, the whole joint replaced. Who knows? :)
Well, I've definitely rambled on enough. Let me know if I can answer any more questions.
Tandy :wave:
Well, I've definitely rambled on enough. Let me know if I can answer any more questions.
Tandy :wave:
lawya_bunny
03-15-2005, 07:51 PM
"He didn't realize the disc was so perforated until he was in there repostitioning them. And, then, this time while he was in there, he noticed that my condyle is now slightly damaged because I decided to leave the disc in there for so long."
Rubato, what did you mean by that exactly? So if a perforated disc is left in the joint for a long time, it damages the condyle? What kind of damage are we talking about? Like wearing away of the bone itself? Is this related to the various stages of internal derangement? Both of my discs are perforated and displaced, as shown by a recent arhtrogram.
Thanks for your help.
LB
Rubato, what did you mean by that exactly? So if a perforated disc is left in the joint for a long time, it damages the condyle? What kind of damage are we talking about? Like wearing away of the bone itself? Is this related to the various stages of internal derangement? Both of my discs are perforated and displaced, as shown by a recent arhtrogram.
Thanks for your help.
LB
rubato
03-16-2005, 10:38 AM
Lawyabunny,
That is what he said. Because the disc was left in for so long out of position and perforated, my condyle began to wear down. Imagine putting something in a joint that gets in the way every time the joint opens. Eventually the ball and the socket of the joint are going to become affected by this. Every time I opened my mouth, the disc was in the way of the condyle moving. So, yes, it started to wear it down. Make sense? If not, maybe someone else who is better at explaining these things can help. I don't have all the medical terms. ;) Are you doing okay with your displaced discs? Have you tried repositioning splints? If I can answer anymore questions, let me know.
Tandy
That is what he said. Because the disc was left in for so long out of position and perforated, my condyle began to wear down. Imagine putting something in a joint that gets in the way every time the joint opens. Eventually the ball and the socket of the joint are going to become affected by this. Every time I opened my mouth, the disc was in the way of the condyle moving. So, yes, it started to wear it down. Make sense? If not, maybe someone else who is better at explaining these things can help. I don't have all the medical terms. ;) Are you doing okay with your displaced discs? Have you tried repositioning splints? If I can answer anymore questions, let me know.
Tandy
lawya_bunny
03-16-2005, 11:03 PM
Thanks for the info Rubato. It totally makes sense. In fact, there's a very slight "crunching" noise every time I open my jaw. I guess that must be the disc getting in the way of the condyle. No wonder the discs are perforated! The joint itself produces no pain. What is painful are my super sore jaw and temple muscles every morning b/c of bruxism. I got a repositioning splint a couple weeks ago and it seems as if my headaches and sore jaw has gotten worse since then. Maybe this is just a transition period where my jaw gets used to being in that position. If splint therapy ends up not helping me after all is said and done, I will probably get open joint surgery, which scares the hell out of me. But hearing stories like your is at least somewhat encouraging.
At this point, my headaches are daily and almost to the point of being debilitating. I can't work when my whole head is throbbing and my neck and shoulder muscles are tense. I find that the only thing that really works on my headaches is Tylenol with codeine. It doesn't make me sleepy for some reason!
At this point, my headaches are daily and almost to the point of being debilitating. I can't work when my whole head is throbbing and my neck and shoulder muscles are tense. I find that the only thing that really works on my headaches is Tylenol with codeine. It doesn't make me sleepy for some reason!