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TMJ Disorder & Health News Weekly Round-Up – 3rd Week of July

Treatment of TMJ ankylosis (joint fusion) with rib graft and fat padding – The surgeons deduced that this was a successful procedure for TMJ ankylosis, however, they only followed patients for 6 months after surgery. We would be interested to know how the patients did after. Also, they didn’t mention the pain of this procedure. Many patients have told us that the rib graft was by far the most painful surgery they had. Source.

Does dextrose prolotherapy help patients with painful disc dislocation or locking? – Twelve patients with painful disc subluxation or dislocation were divided into two groups – one received injections of dextrose and mepivicaine, and the other (the placebo group) received injections of saline and mepivicaine. Each group showed improvement by the end of the study in both pain and number of locking episodes. Both groups did not have improvement in their clicking sounds. Larger in-depth study is needed to understand if prolotherapy is effective for TMJ pain patients.  Source

More research needed to substantiate effectiveness of alternative treatment for fibromyalgia. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has been researching and conducting several alternative treatment programs for fibromyalgia.  They include acupuncture, Tai Chi, massage therapy, chiropractic care, biofeedback, dietary supplements, hypnosis, and magnet therapy.  However, the majority of research in the fibromyalgia studies is still considered “preliminary” for which more thorough research and long-term studies are needed to establish the efficacy of the treatments.  SourceRead More »TMJ Disorder & Health News Weekly Round-Up – 3rd Week of July

Managing a Pain Flare Up – Free Pain Journal Download!

If you’re anything like me, one of the things that I find the most frustrating about having TMJ disorder (or any chronic pain condition, really) is the instability of it… Often, the pain is not steady or stable, and it is hard to know how I am going to feel from one day to the next. This can be incredibly frustrating! Not just for us as patients, but also for our loved ones. It can be difficult to make plans, not knowing how we will feel.
I remember sitting on my couch one afternoon after a particularly rough flare-up, trying to run through the damage it had done…. what appointments did I need to reschedule because I missed them… which friends did I need to call to apologize for being absent from a get together… etc…
I was totally sick of it! And I had enough… so, I started to devise a plan to take control of my health rather than having it take control of me!

I’d like to share some of my plan with you today, and I want to hear what you do to manage flare-ups! If we share tips, I’m sure that together we can come up with some great stuff!Read More »Managing a Pain Flare Up – Free Pain Journal Download!