One more try

[Guest guest]

I only got one response the last time I posted so I just want to re-

ask the questions from my last post.

I am 20 and I have an underbite. I am considering doing an upper jaw

surgery to advance it forward. The main reason for doing it is

persistent TMJ pain. I know that I'm going to be numb in some

regions of my face after surgery and I know that the TMJ pain is not

guaranteed to go away.

I have two questions for anyone willing to help. Is it easy to deal

and live with the numbness? Is it something that is constantly on

your mind or something that prevents you from having a normal life?

Secondly, is there anyone who's TMJ

[Guest guest]

I only got one response the last time I posted so I just want to re-

ask the questions from my last post.

I am 20 and I have an underbite. I am considering doing an upper jaw

surgery to advance it forward. The main reason for doing it is

persistent TMJ pain. I know that I'm going to be numb in some

regions of my face after surgery and I know that the TMJ pain is not

guaranteed to go away.

I have two questions for anyone willing to help. Is it easy to deal

and live with the numbness? Is it something that is constantly on

your mind or something that prevents you from having a normal life?

Secondly, is there anyone who's TMJ

[Guest guest]

I haven't had surgery yet, so I can't answer any questions from that angle

However, I can tell you what I do know from reading the forums and

from what I'm experiencing

First, for the majority of people it seems that most, if not all of

the numbness does eventually go away. For those that have residual

numbness, it really doesn't interfere in their normal everyday

routines (again, there may be some disagreement here, but I don't

recall reading anything of the sort)

Second, I'm kind of in the same position as you in regards to TMJ

pain. I've had it for years, along with the clicking, locking, etc,

but it was always easy to ignore and eventually the clicking and

locking stopped (only because my joints had deteriorated so bad -

although I didn't realize it at the time). Fast forward a few more

years and I could barely open my mouth (physically impossible) and the

pain in my joints was so bad, I just couldn't tolerate it, so I

finally sought out help. Long story short, I ended up having splint

therapy and now braces and will eventually have surgery to correct my

overbite, openbite, crossbite and whatever else...

Right now, because of the splint therapy and braces, I very seldom

have any joint pain, but when I do, it brings back the memory of how

bad it was .... which is one of the reason I'm having surgery. I

know there are no guarantee that it'll be eliminated completely, but I

also know that if I don't have it, that's a pretty sure guarantee that

I'll have joint pain for the rest of my life :)

>

> I only got one response the last time I posted so I just want to re-

> ask the questions from my last post.

>

> I am 20 and I have an underbite. I am considering doing an upper jaw

> surgery to advance it forward. The main reason for doing it is

> persistent TMJ pain. I know that I'm going to be numb in some

> regions of my face after surgery and I know that the TMJ pain is not

> guaranteed to go away.

>

> I have two questions for anyone willing to help. Is it easy to deal

> and live with the numbness? Is it something that is constantly on

> your mind or something that prevents you from having a normal life?

> Secondly, is there anyone who's TMJ

[Guest guest]

I haven't had surgery yet, so I can't answer any questions from that angle

However, I can tell you what I do know from reading the forums and

from what I'm experiencing

First, for the majority of people it seems that most, if not all of

the numbness does eventually go away. For those that have residual

numbness, it really doesn't interfere in their normal everyday

routines (again, there may be some disagreement here, but I don't

recall reading anything of the sort)

Second, I'm kind of in the same position as you in regards to TMJ

pain. I've had it for years, along with the clicking, locking, etc,

but it was always easy to ignore and eventually the clicking and

locking stopped (only because my joints had deteriorated so bad -

although I didn't realize it at the time). Fast forward a few more

years and I could barely open my mouth (physically impossible) and the

pain in my joints was so bad, I just couldn't tolerate it, so I

finally sought out help. Long story short, I ended up having splint

therapy and now braces and will eventually have surgery to correct my

overbite, openbite, crossbite and whatever else...

Right now, because of the splint therapy and braces, I very seldom

have any joint pain, but when I do, it brings back the memory of how

bad it was .... which is one of the reason I'm having surgery. I

know there are no guarantee that it'll be eliminated completely, but I

also know that if I don't have it, that's a pretty sure guarantee that

I'll have joint pain for the rest of my life :)

>

> I only got one response the last time I posted so I just want to re-

> ask the questions from my last post.

>

> I am 20 and I have an underbite. I am considering doing an upper jaw

> surgery to advance it forward. The main reason for doing it is

> persistent TMJ pain. I know that I'm going to be numb in some

> regions of my face after surgery and I know that the TMJ pain is not

> guaranteed to go away.

>

> I have two questions for anyone willing to help. Is it easy to deal

> and live with the numbness? Is it something that is constantly on

> your mind or something that prevents you from having a normal life?

> Secondly, is there anyone who's TMJ

[Guest guest]

I have not had surgery yet but maybe my perspective will help. I

have an underbite as well and experience some locking and clicking

occasionally. It's not to the point where I can't bare it any

longer though. From reading many posts and from speaking with

various medical professionals, I am told that there's a good chance

I will develop problems with pain and function as I get older (I'm

20 too). It also seems that the earlier you have this surgery, the

easier the healing process will be. In my case, I don't want to

wait until the pain and function of my jaw is so painful that I

can't bare it - I'd rather just fix the problem now before it

worsens. Like you said, your TMJ may not go away with this surgery,

but chances are it'll get better after they correct the bite. As

for numbness: it seems like everyone experiences a delayed return of

feeling in some part of their face after surgery. For a select few,

part of their face is numb years later (places like the tip of their

nose, the right part of their chin). Even if an area of numbness

persists, they've all learned to deal with it and it's not a problem

in their every day lives. For most, in the end, that little bit of

numbness is a small price to pay for the positive results. I hope

this helps!

[Guest guest]

I have not had surgery yet but maybe my perspective will help. I

have an underbite as well and experience some locking and clicking

occasionally. It's not to the point where I can't bare it any

longer though. From reading many posts and from speaking with

various medical professionals, I am told that there's a good chance

I will develop problems with pain and function as I get older (I'm

20 too). It also seems that the earlier you have this surgery, the

easier the healing process will be. In my case, I don't want to

wait until the pain and function of my jaw is so painful that I

can't bare it - I'd rather just fix the problem now before it

worsens. Like you said, your TMJ may not go away with this surgery,

but chances are it'll get better after they correct the bite. As

for numbness: it seems like everyone experiences a delayed return of

feeling in some part of their face after surgery. For a select few,

part of their face is numb years later (places like the tip of their

nose, the right part of their chin). Even if an area of numbness

persists, they've all learned to deal with it and it's not a problem

in their every day lives. For most, in the end, that little bit of

numbness is a small price to pay for the positive results. I hope

this helps!