TMJ and chiropractic care

Message

#1 Post by **amelia.** » Wed May 05, 2010 11:27 am

has anyone has any experience with this? I had both my lower and upper jaw operated on in 1999. I had an overbite and "gummy smile"... my overbite was corrected, however, it has relapsed back to worse than it was before. i've been told that i need braces and possible surgery again!!! however, due to lack of funds, i'd like to hold off on that for a while and try to "cope". i was put on muscle relaxers last week to help with my most recent TMJ flare-up. (i've never had to take them before)... and i'm now considering seeing a chiropractor to see if some of the tension can be released and possibly get this under control... has anyone tried this?

thanks!

#2 Post by **qwertz1** » Wed May 05, 2010 11:30 am

in addition to surgery, yes. not as a replacement.

#3 Post by **amelia.** » Wed May 05, 2010 11:31 am

did you find that it helped at all? (i meant to include this in my original post...)

#4 Post by **qwertz1** » Wed May 05, 2010 11:44 am

I don't know yet.
but he also recommended the surgery, so it isn't like you could avoid the surgery alltogether using this.

#5 Post by **sahar** » Wed May 05, 2010 4:05 pm

I m really scared , friends telling me why u wanna do it, Dr tell me to do it and ifeel as if i owe it to myself.

it s been 1 week since last time Dr talked to me and I cant sleep nor eat. I dont know how to pay and what kind of pain im going to go through, how to take care of myself, Im mentally exhausted .

#6 Post by **cvn** » Wed May 05, 2010 5:20 pm

The worst that can happen is that it doesn't help, so I don't see why it wouldn't be worth a try. It might be more helpful to get a well fitting splint though which would probably be about $400-$700 but should last you longer than chiropractic.

I'd work on getting insurance though. You can only bandaid these things for so long.

#7 Post by **trinket** » Wed May 05, 2010 9:58 pm

It sounds like we are going through the same thing right now. Having been through it all once before, the thought of going through it again is daunting. But in the end, I feel it may be the only way to get relief, plus it is so discouraging to have gone through everything to have it relapse and be back at square one. Until I can find a way to pay for the braces & surgery round two, I am considering massage therapy for my TMJ at least to make life bearable in the interim.

#8 Post by **sahar** » Thu May 06, 2010 11:09 am

I just read ur post, have u done the surgery orthgnathic already and u r doing it again and going to Chrio also?
why ? what happpend?

I m still looking for insurance that covers my exp for the surgery. i dont know whichh insurance would do it.

#9 Post by **queenofoverbite** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:55 pm

Try massages. Any massage parlor is happy to have a therapist work on your neck/shoulder/jaw area and it can certainly help.

#10 Post by **sahar** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:34 pm

ohmy god are you serious ? after surgery your lower jaw got back and worsen?

if u dont mind, how old r u ? ru under 30? im asking because im goingto also do the surgery but now they changed their mind and said that is my upper jaw need to be moved forward. But i didnt know that it can go back to where it was !!!!
oh my god.

I appreciate if u let me know.

#11 Post by **amelia.** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:38 pm

sorry... i just saw the replies!!! i had surgery in 1998, when i was 17. my lower jaw was "moved forward" and i had upper surgery, which i'm now learning is called "leforte I" (?)... my lower jaw has regressed back to worse than it was before over the past 12 years. and i have chronic sinus issues. i went to see an orthodontist, my dentist recommended... he sent me straight to the oral surgeon after seeing the xray that he took in office that day. i guess he was a little freaked out by the 20+ screws that i have in my jaw joint area and up near my nasal area. the oral surgeon did not rule out possible surgery again... but, said that i needed to go back to the orthdontist and possibly get braces again to correct my cross bite. he said this could be causing my jaw pain... orthodontist said i would need them for 18 months to correct cross bite and we'd know during this time period if i'd need surgery again or not. unfortunately, with my rare case, the braces are going to cost upwards of $350 a month. (my insurance doesn't cover orthodontics)... at this point, i cannot afford the $350 a month just to see if it will work or not...

my next step is to visit an ENT specialist to see if my chronic sinus problems are from the screws that i still have in my nasal area from the leforte surgery. after doing some research, i'm learning that a lot of people have these screws removed after a few years. i've had them in for 12 years and have chronic sinus issues that keep getting worse... along with my normal TMJ pain/headaches/ear aches... i'm sure i'll end up having to do something major in the future, however, due to the money aspect right now, i'm "dealing" with the pain! i am now 28, almost 29 years old.

if anyone has anymore advice or has been through this same experience, i'd like to hear how you are coping or what you're doing to solve this on-going issue. i promise i'll be back to check replies. thanks!

#12 Post by **scguy85** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:18 pm

hey, you aren't alone! I just recently have been having really bad TMJ flare-ups and I never had TMJ before. It's so terrible, the muscles around my mouth get so tight I can't even open up my mouth sometimes. An oral surgeon here gave me muscle relaxers which help a little but not near enough. Massage provides relief but only for an hour or so.

Metal Mouth Message Board

TMJ and chiropractic care

TMJ and chiropractic care

Oral surgery----plz help tell me what Insur,Any good surgeon

Trinket,,,,,so have u done surgery already and again????

AMELIA