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Jessica's Arthroscopy Story, Part Two – Patients Who Give Us Hope!

TMJ arthroscopy story

This is part two of Jessica’s TMJ story. A couple days ago, we left off with Jessica telling us about her first arthroscopy. In this interview, we pick up with Jessica telling us about her most recent TMJ surgery. (Catch up on the first interview.)
Here’s the rest of our chat:
Stacy: Prior to your recent arthroscopy did you do anything
different?
Jessica: I changed my diet to soft foods, took muscle relaxers and
pain medication.  My dentist gave me some physical therapy
exercises, but they made the pain worse. I have become a
big proponent of MRI’s, but this time around my MRI came
back normal. I was confused because I had the same
symptoms as before.  I gave the report to my doctor and
found out that the MRI was read wrong. She said that a lot of
radiologists don’t have the experience, or the knowledge they
need to read a TMJ MRI, and as a result they get it wrong.

Stacy: Your current surgeon gave you the option of having
arthrocentesis the second time around, why did you choose
arthroscopy instead?
Jessica: I questioned why if I had a more invasive procedure the first
time would a more conservative procedure work this time?
Again I had zero quality of life. We talked about both options
and agreed to do arthroscopy again.  I had my second one
in June of this year.Read More »Jessica's Arthroscopy Story, Part Two – Patients Who Give Us Hope!

Jessica’s Arthroscopy Story, Part Two – Patients Who Give Us Hope!

TMJ arthroscopy story

This is part two of Jessica’s TMJ story. A couple days ago, we left off with Jessica telling us about her first arthroscopy. In this interview, we pick up with Jessica telling us about her most recent TMJ surgery. (Catch up on the first interview.)

Here’s the rest of our chat:

Stacy: Prior to your recent arthroscopy did you do anything
different?
Jessica: I changed my diet to soft foods, took muscle relaxers and
pain medication.  My dentist gave me some physical therapy
exercises, but they made the pain worse. I have become a
big proponent of MRI’s, but this time around my MRI came
back normal. I was confused because I had the same
symptoms as before.  I gave the report to my doctor and
found out that the MRI was read wrong. She said that a lot of
radiologists don’t have the experience, or the knowledge they
need to read a TMJ MRI, and as a result they get it wrong.

Stacy: Your current surgeon gave you the option of having
arthrocentesis the second time around, why did you choose
arthroscopy instead?
Jessica: I questioned why if I had a more invasive procedure the first
time would a more conservative procedure work this time?
Again I had zero quality of life. We talked about both options
and agreed to do arthroscopy again.  I had my second one
in June of this year.Read More »Jessica’s Arthroscopy Story, Part Two – Patients Who Give Us Hope!

Jessica’s TMJ Disorder Story – A Patient Who Gives Us Hope!

We are excited to bring you the first of many TMJ patient interviews that we will be featuring here at TMJ Hope. Jessica & I were able to spend some time on the phone talking about her journey with TMJ disorder and TMJ arthroscopy.  Here’s our chat:

Stacy: Tell me a little about yourself Jessica.
Jessica: I am 22, live in PA. am a senior nursing student. I have had
TMJ disorder since I was 15.  It is only on the right side.

Stacy: How did you get diagnosed?
Jessica: I wish I could remember. When I was in middle school I chewed gum non stop. When I got into high school I started
having problems with clicking and popping when I chewed
and talked, it progressed until I was in pain all the time. We
started going around trying to get me into braces, but the
dentists said that we needed to find out what was going on
with my jaw.Read More »Jessica’s TMJ Disorder Story – A Patient Who Gives Us Hope!

Jessica's TMJ Disorder Story – A Patient Who Gives Us Hope!

We are excited to bring you the first of many TMJ patient interviews that we will be featuring here at TMJ Hope. Jessica & I were able to spend some time on the phone talking about her journey with TMJ disorder and TMJ arthroscopy.  Here’s our chat:

Stacy: Tell me a little about yourself Jessica.
Jessica: I am 22, live in PA. am a senior nursing student. I have had
TMJ disorder since I was 15.  It is only on the right side.

Stacy: How did you get diagnosed?
Jessica: I wish I could remember. When I was in middle school I chewed gum non stop. When I got into high school I started
having problems with clicking and popping when I chewed
and talked, it progressed until I was in pain all the time. We
started going around trying to get me into braces, but the
dentists said that we needed to find out what was going on
with my jaw.Read More »Jessica's TMJ Disorder Story – A Patient Who Gives Us Hope!

Who is TMJ Hope?

I thought it was time that I formally introduce myself. I’m sure that you’ve all wondered… who is TMJ Hope? What follows is part of the story of how TMJ Hope came into existence. I hope over the next few months, together we can turn TMJ Hope into what so many of us have always dreamed of, looked for, and been unable to find…a place you can count on for support, information, and understanding. While there may not be concrete answers and treatments for TMJ disorder yet, there is always hope.
My experience with TMJ disorder began years ago at the age of 12, when I was attacked by a neighbors dog. This resulted in hundreds of stitches in my face and neck. At the time, the damage to my jaw was not apparent and certainly not investigated. The only symptom I had were drop to the ground headaches. The doctors believed they were caused by PTSD (which certainly would have been understandable, but we felt they were from something different). Five years later, the symptoms started to change into more migraine type headaches and jaw pain.
I did rounds with my primary care physician, neurologists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, “facial pain specialists”, physical therapists — you get the picture. Next up was splint therapy — I had an anterior repositioning splint, NTI, soft splint, hard, bottom, top, Mora, Gelb, etc, etc. Other treatments I tried included physical therapy, trigger point injections in the face and mouth, prolotherapy, occlusal adjustment, massage, medications, TENS units, and more splints. New doctor meant a new splint. Any relief of symptoms was unfortunately, temporary.
During all this my symptoms not only escalated, but they changed. I was now having daily migraines, and on a no chew diet. The pain severely impacted my day-to-day life.
An MRI showed interior disc displacement on the left side. The doctor agreed that left TMJ arthrocentesis was necessary. Afterwards, I felt worse and my jaw locked again. I was then fired as a patient because as an oral surgeon he “did not treat pain.”
My next surgeon reread the MRI and found that I actually had bilateral disc displacement without reduction on both sides. The next surgery was a bilateral disc suturing (an open joint arthroplasty). I had a great surgeon and fantastic support from my family, but I had no idea what I was in for. As a computer geek I did my best to research what was out there, but I wasn’t happy with what I could find. Where was the support? I wanted someone to talk to before & throughout the surgery, but it just wasn’t out there. I heard from many other patients, who were looking for the same. They urged me to create something.
Read More »Who is TMJ Hope?