List of most helpful treatments...

[Joyce2]

I just read below post by Elaine, with all replies, and surgery again is my last option. Would any of you mind listing your MOST HELPFUL daily pain relief treatments?

I currently use a night guard and am on Elavil and muscle relaxants at night, and robaxin during day (doesn't make me sleepy) as needed for muscle pain in face. Just looking for as much relief as I can hope for, since post below from Elaine has again reinforced me to NOT consider surgery as an option.

Thank you for your time, and reassurance that I am not alone out here, this disorder can make you feel so hopeless and fragile, and seeing all of you (although I'm sad & sorry that there are so many of us) gives me some comfort.

Huge hugs to everyone,
Joyce

[J-man]

Hi Joyce,

Good topic, even if something helps just a bit it's worth knowing about and trying..I think !!

Well I had been using a bionator, which is sort of like a splint, and it pulls your jaw forward. But then it stopped providing relief, and has become difficult to wear. I'm hoping my dentist can get it working again though !


But here are few of my self help remedies, some of which have afforded me some pretty good relief in the past few weeks :

1) water filled splint
2) gel bags (ultrasound gel in baggies), with tape to keep it from oozing out. This works kind of like the water splint...it allows your jaw to 'float' on the biting surface, rather than clamping down hard on something.
3) wax paper between my front teeth. Your back teeth are designed to produce a lot more biting force than your front teeth are, so if you can keep them apart that helps. So I fold up this wax paper and place the little squares, sometimes between my front teeth, and sometimes between my 'eye teeth'or incisors. At different times my jaw feels comfortable with the paper in different places.

I'm very thankful for the help I've gotten from these 'therapies', and they've enabled me to get more work done in the past two weeks,than the 5 or 6 weeks before that time period.

John

p.s. I'm still holding out hope for more traditional splints :-) but I haven't seemed to be able to get them to work for me lately.

[GenDen]

J-Man,

I am having trouble with my bionator too. My daytime splint was adjusted last week and is great. The bionator causes pain. I called my TMJ specialist and he is making another one for me that will be ready this Thursday. He think it needs to be not quite so far forward. I have found that the key to treatment is constant monitoring in the beginning, then adjustments as needed after that. My pain is not completely gone, but it is so much better that I now feel like I have a life. I am optimistic for the future and wish the best for you.

As far as hints for help with pain. I have found that the best thing I can do is not chew. That creates pain. My menu is anything that is very soft. We are picking apples from our trees and I so badly want to bite into an apple, but I know the price is too great. I also carefully watch my posture to make sure that I am not leading with my chin. Periodically through the day I do breathing exercises to relax. I slowly breath in through my nose to the count of ten, hold it for a count of ten, then slowly blow out through my mouth for a count of about fifteen. I repeat this several times and relax. I can feel my muscles relax all over my body.

[J-man]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that my 'gel splints' (just baggies with some ultrasound gel in them) are still working for me. I'm still looking for a better, more definitive treatment from dental professionals, but in the meantime, I'd recommend this solution as one worth trying.

Of course it helps that I work at home so I can wear this 'gel splint' while I'm working. Today, I helped my parents in law move their trailer, and I had these silly looking gel baggies in my mouth while I was doing it, in order to prevent damage from clenching. Afterwards I remarked to them, "I bet you never thought your daughter in law would marry a guy who spends much of the day with bags of blue goop between his teeth." They laughed..but such is the life of many tmj patients, in search of relief. Whatever works for you...is good, no matter how silly it may make you look !

John