Jaw pain

[Guest guest]

It sounds to me like TMJ , but ofcourse I m not a Dr. I do have jaw

pain and have off and on for years . My Dr has explained to me that

lack of thyroid hormone causes tissues to swell and can cause joint

pain and pinched nerves . I also have carpal tunnel , although not

too bad tonight , as I type away!! So you see your question wasn't

off topic at all !!!

[Guest guest]

Phil:

I remember an earache where I couldn't open my jaw and it hurt all the way down my neck. It was awful. This was many years after my initial surgery (probably 10) but before my canaloplasty (to open things up so air could circulate through and dry everything out). After that surgery, though, I have not had ONE ear infection (I'm 33 now). But, every once in a while I wonder if I have TMJ or it's a c-toma. I am forever going back to the doctor and making him make sure nothing is in there :-)

I.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/30/03 5:28:24 AM, KayBraddock@... writes:

> I'm waiting for insurance approval of a splint.  I'm wondering what can

> help until the splint is approved and made.

>

What do you mean by splint?

I wear a night guard over my teeth to prevent grinding from ruining my

teeth...

Pris

Check out

www.valentinesperformingpigs.com

for a pig training book and just for fun video!

200 pics of porkers!

[Guest guest]

I don't have jaw pain, but I wanted to ask you about some of the other

topics you list in your message. You mention that you are doing

extensive sewing. When I sit for long periods of time, I get very stiff,

and I can hardly walk. Do you have that problem; do you do anything to

avoid it? Also, you mention that you are disabled. What symptoms brought

you to that point and how did you proceed to get that label?

Pat

[Guest guest]

Hi , You ask a couple of major questions. To answer the first--I'm not

sitting for long periods of time when I sew. I go from my three sewing machines

and the ironing board. More than anything my shoulders get achy. I've had

arthroscopic surgery on both shoulders. As to the second question--how I became

disabled-it is a lengthy story. None of us come to that point easily. I was a

special education teacher. My RS affected nerves in my lower back resulting in

a drop foot and bladder/bowel difficulties. Fatigue also became an issue as

well as frequent infections. I tried to return to teaching and developed some

life threatening problems. I also have spasmodic dysphonia, a voice disorder

caused by uncontrollable spasms of the vocal chords, which became an issue

several years ago. So in short, that is how I came to the realization that

teaching would no longer be possible for me. I still feel that I have a full

and busy life. I am an important part of my family. When I use the term

disabled I'm using it in a " legal " sense. I still feel like I'm a capable

person although I'm unable to work outside of my home.

Kay Braddock

Speedway German Wirehaired Pointers

Paint Horses

[Guest guest]

Hi Kay,

Thanks for the information, Kay.

Since I experience similar problems, was the surgery for your shoulders,

bladder problems, and fatigue related to AS? I find that my back, upper

and lower, get tired after doing anything for too long and too often I

feel very stiff, although I am on several drugs (sulfasalazine 6x/day,

diclofenac 2 - 3x/day, diltiazem 3 - 4x/day, and skelaxin 3 - 4x/day), I

feel that the time is near that I will need to be disabled legally and

wanted to know what steps you took to bring that about. In no way did I

want to suggest that you are not important to anyone! It is just that

disabled appears to be a next step for me.

Thanks for all of your great information! By the way, I have not had jaw

pain . . . yet.

Pat

[Guest guest]

I think I'm talking about the same thing as your night guard. Was it molded

specifically for you? I had one many years ago but it no longer fits. I think

the idea is to change the bite to relax it and take the pressure and tension off

the joint. I also think I would be wearing it during the day at home when my

jaw hurts.

Kay Braddock

Speedway German Wirehaired Pointers

Paint Horses

Re: Jaw Pain

In a message dated 7/30/03 5:28:24 AM, KayBraddock@... writes:

> I'm waiting for insurance approval of a splint. I'm wondering what can

> help until the splint is approved and made.

>

What do you mean by splint?

I wear a night guard over my teeth to prevent grinding from ruining my

teeth...

Pris

[Guest guest]

Kay,

Re the splint, get a sports mouth guard (football mouthpiece) at Wal-Mart or

other discount store. They cost around $1.00. Heat it per the directions on the

package, making it malleable, and fit it to your teeth. My dentist suggested

that I do this while awaiting my bite guard. It worked so well, I use it instead

of the expensive one my insurance paid for, sometimes even wearing it during the

day to relieve jaw pain.

Good luck and I hope you get some quick relief!

Best regards,

Charlotte, NC

******************************************

Notice: This communication, including attachments, may contain information that

is

confidential and protected by the attorney/client or other privileges. It

constitutes

non-public information intended to be conveyed only to the designated

recipient(s).

If the reader or recipient of this communication is not the intended recipient,

an

employee or agent of the intended recipient who is responsible for delivering it

to

the intended recipient, or you believe that you have received this communication

in

error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and promptly delete

this

e-mail, including attachments without reading or saving them in any manner. The

unauthorized use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this e-mail,

including attachments, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Receipt by anyone

other

than the intended recipient(s) is not a waiver of any attorney/client or other

privilege.

[Guest guest]

Both ReA and Fibromyalgia keep my jaws inflamed constantly. My ENT says it is

an extreme case, but there is not much anyone can do about the inflammation or

pain. I have learned how to not open my mouth very widely when eating. It

makes eating any kind of meat difficult unless it is tender enough or cut into

small enough pieces.

I am no longer taking any kind of NSAID or other anti-inflammatory medication.

I wasn't getting any response from them other than increasing my risk for liver

damage so my doctors withdrew those medications.

I take pain management medications only, which include sleep disturbance

medications when needed. My ENT was the first doctor to suggest Fibro due to

the greatly inflammed jaws and surrounding muscles and tendons.

Ray Neal

[Guest guest]

Hi Liz,

Have you been to your dentist yet? Has he ever mentioned TMJ

before? Also, do you have a cold or have any sinus problems or

pressure right now? If your sinus cavities and roots are close to

another you can sometimes feel pain in your teeth area(usually feels

like a cavity) when you have a sinus problem. Is it in a spot wear

you've had a filling? Maybe one of the roots is dying?(as in

rootcanal time) I'm just trying to think of things besides the

obvious. The best thing to do is go to the dentist for xrays. Good

luck, take care!

S.

> My pain in my mouth has been quite bad the past few days, I thought

it may be a mouth ulcer and have been using bonjela however tonight

my mouth is terribly painful, not sure whether the pain is coming

from my jaw or not.

> Any ideas, I am taking anti-inflammatories each night but the pain

is still there.

>

> Many thanks

>

>

> Liz

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> ALL-NEW Messenger - all new features - even more fun!

[Guest guest]

I'd be interested to know if anyone else is having jaw pain. Mine is getting

worse and the first time I mentioned it to my rheumatologist, she said that it

was not typically associated with PA. There is another auto-immune disease

(forgotten it's name) but it affects the glands, just as PA affects the joints.

It does cause jaw pain - but there are also other causes, like TMJ, etc. Am

seeing my rheumatologist again soon (3rd visit) and am going to bring it up

again. This jaw pain and some in my thumbs have all developed since I went on

Enbrel. All other PA related pain is gone. Interesting . . .. .

Joanna Hoelscher

630-833-7361

[Guest guest]

Joanna, hi. I occasionally have jaw pain but not often. i think your doctor was

refering to sjogrens. marylou

[Guest guest]

Jaw pain is a symptom that I had also.I still get it every now and then.My

Rhuemy said that it is quite common. So who knows?

Walt

[Guest guest]

Dear Joanna,

This email of yours just shows you how doctors are so different on their

knowledge of PA. All my PA pain first started in my jaw. I fell in one of

those lovely “mother-daughter” moments when we were registering her for

college. Somehow full of grace, I managed to land just on my face. I

thought when the pain got bad that I had just knocked a disc lose or

something and I spent years searching for someone to help me with TMJ

problems.

After about 5 rheumatologists, arthroscopic surgery, cortisone injections,

and pain meds, I found one who does research at one of our local state

colleges and teaches there as well too. I told him my story about how my

pain had begun and the first thing he said was PA often starts in the jaw.

He also said any major trauma like surgery, falling or a car accident can be

the trigger that sets PA off. He was right on about me. By the time they

figured out what was wrong with my jaw, both the balls of the ball and

socket part of the joints (called the condolye) were worn away. I’ve also

been told I need a double jaw replacement surgery, but no one can give me

any kind of guarantee that I’ll be better off pain wise. Jaw surgery still

has a long way to go and unless you have severe trauma to your face, it

seems better, at least for me to hold off as long as I can. Now my jaws

have started ankylosing together, which means eventually I won’t be able to

open my mouth. So far I can still do that, but my mouth opening is getting

smaller. But until that day gets here, I don’t plan on any major jaw

surgery. I’ve seen several surgeons about this too and I even had

arthroscopic surgery done on it just to see how bad the joint actually was.

All that did was increase my pain to the point I ended up in pain

management. In the long run though, I would have ended up there eventually

because it wasn’t long after the surgery, that my PA started spreading to

all my joints. Now I need two new knees and several spots on my back need

surgery, and who knows what else needs fixing. Every time I get a test done

or CAT scan they find something else is wrong.

I would get a 2nd opinion on the jaw pain. If you are like me, it hurts to

sit up, watch TV, talk very long, especially on the phone, or chew anything

like gum or even steak. I was miserable with it for years, but the only

thing that really helped me was Botox injections. I had them done twice and

so far, and now I can mange to treat it with a simple migraine medication.

It triggers a lot of different facial problems though and my face is tight

and in knots a lot of the time. When the pain is bad in your jaw or your

face, not much helps. Some people swear that heat helps, but for me the

only thing that helps is lying down with a cold pack. Xanax helps too since

it relaxes the muscles and some other muscle relaxors help me now and then.

I also developed a horrible condition called erythromelalgia, where my skin

turns red and burns like mad. It started on one side of my face, where the

PA hit first, and has now spread to both sides, my hands, feet and chest.

The whole TMJ world of treatment is hard to deal with. Most insurance

companies will cover doctors treating TMJ, but you’ll find that it’s mostly

dentists who treat TMJ. So you either pay enormous amounts of cash for

treatment, that works rarely, or you see a specialist like a surgeon who is

covered on your insurance, but only wants to operate. I finally saw a

specialist at Shands hospital in Gainesville Florida and he literally wrote

the book on jaw surgery. He has told me several times there is no guarantee

I won’t be in worse pain after surgery, so he always advises me to wait as

long as I can. Believe me I’ve heard some real horror stories about TMJ

doctors, so check around if you do end up seeing one. It’s another one of

those problems that stress really makes worse or if you grind your teeth at

night. I have both problems unfortunately.

There are several good books out there, which I found helped me more than

most of my doctors. One is by Dr. Shankland, I think it’s the Many faces of

TMJ, but I know Amazon sells it. He explains all sorts of jaw conditions

that are similar to TMJ. So you might figure out you don’t have TMJ, but

something else after all since it’s strange your medication isn’t helping it

at all. I was allergic to almost all the biologics except for Arava. I’ve

had to go off it now since I’m hoping to have my knees replaced in the near

future and the surgeons don’t want to operate if you have been on any of

those drugs lately, due to increased infection in the hospitals. I’ll be

seeing a high-risk surgeon as it is if I get my knees fixed.

I wish I could be more help and if you think of any questions please email

me and I’ll do what I can to help. There are several support groups out

there for TMJ that are just wonderful as well. Hang in there and

I hope you get some relief soon.

Take care, Fran in Florida

[Guest guest]

Thanks to all of you who responded on this. Your replies were very helpful and

give me some good info for my next visit. So far, the jaw pain isn't horrible

and isn't constant - but it's there! Mostly when I open wide or eat something

like a raw carrot. I also have some pain in my thumbs and now on the outside of

my hands. It isn't bad, either, but am checking it all out because it started

after I went on Enbrel and everything else cleared up!!!!! My rheumy came

recommended to me by several other docs that I trust but she's not my " kind " of

doctor. Is very much a proponent of the " big gun " meds (goes there first) and

doesn't seem to be much into alternative therapies. (Typical teaching hospital

physician, in my opinion.) When I asked about diet, all she told me was not to

eat farm-raised salmon, which has nothing to do with PA or auto-immune

diseases!!! Supplements: everybody should take 1,000 mg of fish oil every day.

No advice on exercise except to do it. When she found out I'd also developed

ulcerative colitis, she immediately suggested changing my medication (even

though it's working well) and gave me suggestions for my gastro - which he

rejected in favor of " safer " ones.

Joanna Hoelscher

630-833-7361

[Guest guest]

Hello-

I had jaw pain several years ago that was becoming quite bad. I had

not yet been daignosed with PsA. I went to physical therapy and had

heated massages for it and excercises and little massages I do at

home. This helped a great deal and I still use the massages a few

times a month.

Another thing that TMJ is associated with is IBS, which I also have, so

I just attributed it to that. Now I know that I have PsA - so maybe it

is related.

Good luck;

Jill

[Guest guest]

I go to physical therapy but hesitated to ask about my jaw. Thanks for the info

- I will check with them.. It actually was my physical therapist (I was going

after major surgery to repair my rotator cuff and biceps tendon) who noticed

that she was suddenly starting to feel a lot of inflammation. I was almost

finished with therapy for the shoulder but had tripped over something in the

house and bruised my ribs a bit. Two weeks later, the inflammation started -

so, yes, it is true as someone just mentioned, even a trauma that small can

trigger PA. I never, ever had symptoms before that. Only osteo. An attorney

friend of mine who heard this story said that it was interesting because the

same thing had happened to several of his clients after minor fender benders.

Guess it will be a while before medical researchers know for sure the hows and

whys of our immune systems start to fight us. Anyway, thanks, again to all for

the info on jaw pain.

Joanna Hoelscher

630-833-7361

[Guest guest]

I used to have a bad jaw pain. I had 4 teeth that were not real bad but my

dentist told me I needed them crowned before I broke one something else would

happen. I finally decided I would get the courage to go through with what it

would take to get this done. I had it done over 2 years ago and I have not had a

jaw pain since I had my teeth repaired. Doris Earley

[Guest guest]

Hi Joanna,

I've had jaw pain for years. Panoramic x-rays show

arthritic deterioration...whether from RA or PA it

really doesn't matter. I've had cortizone shots in my

jaw, very painful, p.t., and wear a bite guard, but

still have some painful flares. I also have sjogrens

syndrome, and it has virtually destroyed my

moisture-producing glands and can cause pain when it

flares. You know these glands are affected when they

react to anything you put in your mouth as if it were

a dill pickle, even something starchy like bread. I

had sjogrens symptoms for years prior to

diagnosis...didn't know what it was.

I alternate ice and heat in the evening, eat soft

foods, do p.t. exercises and hope for the best. The

most pain it has caused me was when my jaw locked

shut. Emotionally, the pain from no longer being able

to play my trumpet in the local community and jazz

bands has diminished over time, but I do miss it.

wishing you wellness,

jane

[Guest guest]

Sherry,

I have a custom appliance that was made for me in 2000. It works well,

but it was very, very expensive. Let me know if the Walmart thing

works. I may try it.

Randi

[Guest guest]

Hi Eileen,

As a fellow jaw pain sufferer, I know what you mean

about painful eating. I found it easiest to just stick

with soft foods for less irritation. I also live in

northern Michigan, and although I rarely have any P,

the PA is worsened by the cold weather. Who is your

rheumy? (I see Huebner in Petoskey)

warm blessings

jane

[Guest guest]

I just purchased a night guard from Walmart and it has helped..My aunt had one

made for her and she thinks the ones from Walmart are just as good to her. My

jaw is still very tender but I am beginning to tell a difference. Hope this

helps....

Amy M.

[Guest guest]

I have PA in my jaw too. It was the last joint in my body to get PA.

It started in 2002. I had braces from 2002 to 2005. I saw the

orthodontist once a month or once every 6 weeks. The constant

orthodontist appointments (having my jaws open wide for long periods

of time) caused the PA to go into my jaws. I never had jaw pain

before my braces. The orthodontist was insistent that I wear rubber

bands on to correct my overbite 24/7 for six months. After wearing

them for 20 minutes or so everyday I was in total pain. When I told

my orthodontist that the rubber bands were causing my PA to move into

my jaw, he just laughed at me and told me that rubber bands could not

cause arthritis. I refused to wear the rubber bands from that point

on, but it was too late the PA was already in my jaw.

I have a heck of a time eating steak, caramel or other chewy foods. I

have a hard time eating thick breads too. I try to stay away from

items I know will hurt to eat. But even with softer items, my jaw

will start to hurt during long, big meals.