Hellobee Boards

@mediagirl: I thought I had TMJ for the longest time! I had arthrocentesis on my jaw and wore mouth guards and everything. Turns out it was actually an issue in my neck that was radiating up into my face. It was also causing a lot of shoulder problems. I've been seeing someone who specializes in Active Release Therapy and it has been LIFE CHANGING. Sometimes i still have to have my jaw manually adjusted because it will get off track! It's not even funny the huge, huge difference it has made in my quality of life

@mediagirl: Ugh it was a long road. I had seem some dentists and most wanted to rewire my entire mouth, put me in braces, do massive surgery...I saw an orthodontist and he said no way, my teeth are perfect. So I kept getting second opinions and ended up in a surgical dentists' office and he said i had massive scar tissue in my jaw and that cleaning that up would help. So i had that surgery. And a couple months later, all the pain came back. So i saw a dentist that specializes in TMJ and he recommended a chiropractor, which I totally wrote off as hokey shit, but he said my neck felt misaligned. So i saw one. My x-rays were bad. So i started seeing a traditional chiropractor regularly. I did get relief! And I did get better, but then it just sort of leveled out. After awhile, I wasn't getting any better and I was still having pain, yet i was getting the same treatment over and over. And when I mentioned it to him, he said he wanted to put me through MORE rigorous treatment. It felt like a money scam. An expensive one. So I sought out more opinions. Meanwhile, everyone at my Crossfit gym had been seeing this amazing chiropractor at a Back Pain Center, so I made an appointment with him. And he does both traditional adjustments and ART (which a lot of physical therapists do, by the way!!!! My insurance bills it as half chiro, half PT). He did a full work up on me and said he felt that my issues were primarily muscular, that my muscles were pulling everything out of alignment and causing problems up into my face. Well, he was really far away from work, so I looked up a closer ART provider and started going. Took about 3-4 weeks of treatment, but I see him once a month now (well, now that i'm so pregnant, i go every week). It's just been kind of amazing. No jaw pain, minimal neck pain...and when i do see him, he fixes it. I do still have back issues but now i think they're from sitting at a desk all day and everything getting tight.

I wasn't grinding or clenching or anything, i just had tons of pain in my jaw and cheekbones. There are a TON of muscles in that joint that can get inflamed and really jacked up. I was on celebrex, stim, and some muscle relaxers for a long, long time. Nothing seemed to touch it. I had some days I couldn't fit a damn sandwich in my mouth! Anyways, something to think about when you start investigating treatment.

Ladies, I'm sorry you're all here.

I don't know if I "count" as having a chronic issue but I had an intestinal infection last year and just had it again a few weeks ago. I had just finally started being able to eat semi-normally once I got hit with it again (6 months of slooow recovery in between), and this time it was worse. I'm pregnant, so I was even in the hospital for four days. (& I had been bleeding due to SCH too.) It has been painful and frustrating. MIL has been a lifesaver, even staying over, and watching DD when DH is at work. I was barely out of bed for awhile, just beyond exhausted and miserable. On top of this all I've dealt with a couple other minor temporary health things. Stomach issues suuuuuuuuck. And I'm terrified that my weight loss or just my body not working right will cause me to m/c.