What do I do now???

It has been 21months since my Jaw surgery and I would LOVE to be telling you all that I have completely moved on from having to worry about issue relating to my jaw/teeth and am instead living a normal full functioning life. Unfortunately the reality is somewhat VERY different. I still wake up ever morning with that sinking feeling of having to battle through another day feeling somewhat stuck with my current situation. MY TMD is completely worse then it was pre surgery. I was not prepared for this at all. Every time I open my mouth to take my first bite or mouthful of food I have to brace myself for the dreaded cracking/crunching sound as my left Temporomandibular joint uncomfortably opens. I get partial locking which means my jaw only opens easily to a certain point and then anything further is somewhat staggered. This is because the articular disc becomes dislodged and thus the jaw does not freely move nicely backwards and forwards. The clicking is also occurring when I talk. You don't realize how much we take things for granted like the ability to normally open/close your mouth without even having to think about it. I am now forced to think about it constantly, because If I don't, I sure as hell am quickly reminded with the sudden feeling of tightness and the shocking noise my jaw now makes. I am really paranoid about not opening up too wide in fear of it becoming completely locked.

I have started seeing a Physiotherapist and he agrees it would never be a good idea for me to open up really wide. He has me doing a number of exercises to help take stress away from the 4 main jaw muscles which are involved in chewing and clenching the teeth. He has said that these exercises have helped some of his other patients being completely relieved of all jaw clicking. I am a bit skeptical about this in my situation as I have another dominate issue contributing to it's severity. MY TONGUE THRUSTING.

Tongue thrusting has been described as one of the most challenging orthodontic issues to correct. In adult patients, this is EVEN more challenging and some would even go as far as saying it's impossible to fully correct because our adult tongue, being one of the strongest muscle in the human body, has become so adapted to a certain pattern of oral habits that is can be extremely hard to correct on a subconscious level. You can think you are placing the tongue in the correct position and doing everything right, but it's just so easy for your tongue to revert back to doing only what it knows best. My tongue thrusting enhances the pressure placed on my jaw joints contributing to my TMD. It's a very frightening and deliberating combination, which causes me a lot of stress and anxiety, especially as my bite has open up slightly.

I also have started seeing an oral myologist who has also given me a variety of exercises to strengthen my tongue and the various facial muscles involved in the act of swallowing. She knows my extensive dental history and that I suffer from TMD so has limited the therapy to exercises that will hopefully not put too much added pressure on my jaw joints. Just take a look at this website (link below) to view the sad reality of tongue thrusting. The introduction paragraph sums up perfectly the reasons why I feel so overwhelmed at the moment. If someone had read this to me or my parents when I was a young child and stated how serious all this was, maybe I could have travelled a smother dental/orthodontic journey which perhaps would have given me a more positive outcome.
http://www.tonguethrust.com/information.htm

To add to all this drama, I am also seeing an ENT in April as my Oral Myologist mentioned that my nose breathing was very noisy and shallow. Even though I have had a septoplasty previously, she thought It might be a good idea to get it checked out again as the ability to breath through your nose properly is essential for continuing on with therapy. I told her that I've had a blocked Eustachian tube on my left side since October last year. ETD is that annoying crackling you hear in your ear. When I drink and swallow, that is what I hear all the time!! Something seems stuck in my middle ear and wont budge. I've tried a few nasal sprays and nothing has changed. Actually it's on the same size I hear the most amount of jaw cracking too. ARGHHH 


Lastly, the significant numb patch I still have on my right side is excruciating in terms of how stiff and tight that area still is. Nothing seems to have improved. I've mentioned this previously in my blog posts and numerous times to my surgeon who seems to think everything is normal and that it just takes time!! I want to stay positive about this, but finding it extremely hard. It's not completely numb because I can feel myself pinch the area but it just feels so tight, puffy and inflamed, especially when I talk.

Far out, all of this is more then I would have ever imaged occurring post surgery but unfortunately this is my current situation!! I will continue to keep you updated, hopefully the next post wont be so gloomy. Sorry about that :(