Hi.. well.. I don't know what the likelihood of it happening again on the same side is. I went to have a bite of a pb & j sandwhich the other day and I when I bit down I heard *crunch* !! Scared the heck out of me and it sure hurt. I instantly got the shooting pain up by me ear and got a massive headache and pain around my eye. I was getting pain around my eye and headaches a few months ago but I thought it might be a sinus infection or something. Now, by having this happen it all makes sense. It just aches really bad. Like when I first had it. My recovery back then was a while.. I wasn't allowed to eat solid foods for 1 month. I couldn't eat anything crunchy or chewy for probably another month at least. I know I had to have everything pureed and drink shakes and boost drinks with the vitamins and stuff in them. I don't know what it's like now. I did have to wear this retainer thing which I absolutely despised! I had enough of them with braces and all. I wonder if people who have had braces if tmj is more common? Anyways, I remember I had to do exercises, which I did not do all the time. But I think it only took a week or two for the scar to heal. You can't even notice it unless you look really close by the ear. I think I had only one follow up from the oral surgeon. The only thing is he said I could never chew gum or have toffee or anything really chewy or anything. I also cannot open my jaw for more than 5 minutes whithout it getting sore and I can't open my mouth as big as I used to. I have probably lost about 30 % capacity from that. On the positive side, if you need to lose weight, the tmj diet is great! I lost about 20 pounds. I am on the gallbladder diet right now. Can't eat anything hehe. That surgery is coming up in a couple weeks. That's not exactly the way to lose weight lol. How long ago did you have your surgery? It will probably take a couple months to heal and I think it would probably be fully healed in 4 to 6 months.. maybe longer. You just have to be careful which way to move your jaw or it can go into spasm. I know I was in the hospital for 2 days. So what's it like now? I guess I need to go my specialist. The pain is right by my ear on the right side. I grind my teeth and clench really bad at night. Just make sure you do the exercises. They are really important. I hope your recovery is a speedy one. Kinda sucks if someone makes you laugh though.. :-) How long did they say your recovery is going to be? Hope all is well :-)
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