New here! - TMJ Disorder -TemporoMandibular Joint Message Board

wizadora · 01-18-2009, 03:48 PM

Hi there I'm totally new to this site.

I'm 25 and have had pain from my tmj since I was about 15/16. I have had several surgeries since then and two years ago I had a partial joint replacement of the fossa which didn't seem to do anything to get rid of the constant pain! to top it off whike doing the surgery they think they damaged the nerve in my face and so I also suffer from nerve pains! Since then i have had two ops of cryosurgery to kill the nervs. My surgeon thinks that the next step is a full replacement but as you can expect I am very aprehensive about this! I wondered if anyone had any similar experiences with the surgery? and if anyone had any help or suggestions on pain management as at the moment i'm just drugging myself up to manage to go to work in the morning!

Thanks for listening to my ramble!

StillHope · 01-18-2009, 05:05 PM

Just want to tell how much I am empathizing with you! I did not have any surgeries myself but from many posts it seems that a lot of people had them w/o improvements or even had it worse from surgeries. As I read on several dental sites a surgery should be reserved as the very last option.

I'd suggest first to find out the exact state of your jaw at this point (did you have an MRI?) and educate yourself about it.

Many people on this board can relate to your pains and difficulty to work. I am sure you will get many suggestions soon. I try to avoid pills except for short term use and try to deal with the pain by observing my body and jaw and trying to do what makes it better, like allowing my jaw to rest as much as I can (soft or now blended food, not opening the mouth too wide, trying not to touch my teeth), use the heat or ice, different muscle-joints pain creams and so on.

Many posts on these board might be helpful for your to look through.
Hope you can heal your jaw w/o more surgeries!

Thelma-Louise · 01-18-2009, 10:22 PM

You may want to try doing an Advanced Search on this forum using the keywords joint replacement or joint surgery to locate previous posts regarding this. Although several members or former members have posted here regarding their experiences with such surgery primarily it is from those who are still in pain or having problems as those with successful outcomes generally go on to live their life - but a few former tmj sufferers with successful surgeries behind them do "stop by" from time to time.

Its a huge decsion to make but unfortunately many are forced into it when all else fails however with that said do as much research as you possibly can in terms of what type of replacement is being used, its success rate - even call the mftr of it and speak with them and if possible ask your OS for names of patients he has performed the surgery on that wouldn't mind speaking with you about it - if he can not provide any - you may need to find a different surgeon.

I have yet to find a pain med that does not have side affects or allows me to function normally - what are you currently taking? I think there is a previous post out there (again, perhaps do an Advanced Search for it) where a member asked others what they were taking that worked for them - for many people, b/c we are all so different, its usually a period of trial and error of working with your dr until you find something you can live with. I went to a Pain Mgmt clinic at a dental university after trying about 8 diff meds my medical dr prescribed and was lucky enough that the first 2 meds he suggested were not too bad - still made me groggy - but not totally out of it - and he said there were others he could try too - so there are many to choose from. Also - certain anti-depressants can be prescribed which will alter or affect the pain center in the brain and dull the signals it is receiving - its based on some theories that chronic pain over stimulates the pain center and it therefore overeacts to any stimuli.

I, too, hope you find an alternative to surgery that will help ease your pain and symptoms.