sunflowersandy

I am getting nervous as my Open Joint Arthroplasty on my left jaw joint is taking place next week (day before Thanksgiving bleh :-/ ) I was wondering if others on here have had experience with this type of surgery? I have had jaw symptoms for the past 9 years (am currently 24 years old) but did not get treatment until the past 5 years which only started with a mouth guard that was actually doing me worse. Pain has consistently become worse in the past 5 years affecting my daily life. I have at least 6 to 10 headaches a month as well as daily jaw/facial/neck pain. A year ago a doctor finally sent me to get an MRI and discovered both my left and right discs are displaced and my left side is worse then my right. I have had bone grinding on bone for the past 4 years and my joint is no longer circular but flat. (degenerative bone disease) I have tried years of the proper mouth guard and months of physical therapy w/daily exercises/hot/cold/acupunture with no real results only temporary relief. I grind my teeth pretty bad at night so I am told and proof seen from my mouth guards. Will my grinding mess me up after my surgery? The surgeon said he will have to go in and see if my disc is salvagable and if so he will put it back between the bones but if it is not it will be removed completely. He said where my disc is now could be making my grinding worse at night as my jaw is trying to get into its proper position at night but cannot due to the disc placement. If anyone has any advice or similar experience I would appreciate a response. Some other questions.. will they have to shave my hair around my ear? How many stitches are typically needed to sew up this type of incision? How long did it take to start feeling better after the procedure? Thank you