TMJ - Jaw pain / Surgery (ache, doctor, nerve, shoulder)

[cdbicdb]

I have been diagnosed with TMJ, have inserts, wore for a year. Pain still there, considering the surgery. Doctor I was seeing was expensive and advised inserts the rest of my life! He doesn't do surgery and now am thinking only option. He stated the tendon snapped, jaw moved and over the time of that I grounded a new place in my jaw where it was not lining up.

The inserts are awful, wear them during day & night for a year. Now, during night only yet jaw is never lined up right, and if I wear day insert for more than a week or two jaw hurts just as bad if not wearing. Pain is back, ear ache is back, headaches, now moving into neck/shoulder pain...

Has anyone had the surgery? Can anyone advise about the surgery?

[AKACarmen]

I had the surgery, but mine was a bit more complicated than u r posting. I had the surgery, and have no regrets, yet. However, my mouth was wired shut for 16 weeks, my meals were from a straw, once the wires came off, i was in therapy for about a year, re-learning how to use my mouth, now that i think about it, its quite funny, how every week, the goal was to get as many popsicle sticks in mouth to get it back to opening on its own.

at any rate, the surgery was a success, i currently have no pains, surgery was done in 2006, but i do not have any feeling in my face, doctors say the feeling will come back eventually, but there is a slight chance it want. so u c, when i eat, i am constantly wiping my face b/c i can not feel anything, however, drs have indicated that there is a surgery where i can take nerve from other parts of the body and attache to the nerve of the face and mouth, but its 2% chance of that nerve returning, i decline, b/c i cannot do another surgery. i've been in braces fro 8 yrs now - should be a record, but i am tmj free...at lease for now...

good luck

there are plenty of sites out there that caters to tmj - do extensive reserach, i did; i was consulted for 4 months b/4 i had the suregery done.

[cdbicdb]

The surgery I was advised about consists of removing half my lower jaw, inserting a new jaw because the upper bone, skull, where my lower joint should go is larger than originally was, so now my jaw just moves as it wants. The pain is unbelievably strong and gets stronger every day. I am not too worried about the jaw wired, was advised of that as well, I know sign language and will be able to communicate, I am just thinking half my jaw removed???

[u4icmusic]

This is not the correct forum for this post.