Make a connection, ask a question, share a concern, give advice or just chat. Our message boards connect you with a community of people who understand where you’re coming from and what you’re going through.
Hey, I just wanted to introduce myself on here. I am a 20 yr. old college student athlete with ongoing TMJ. I have been in pain and out pain since I was 14. My first surgery was 15 and it solved some problems for a while. I had to travel all the way to St. Petersburg, FL for my surgery though, which put a burden on my family who I appreciate more than I can express. That surgery removed the discs and placed in bilateral fat grafts. 3 years later I had my second surgery which was a bilateral osteotomy. I have 5 plates in my face. I still have pain, and my doctors have recognized bone degeneration on my catscans. As of right now I am working on pain management, such as splint therapy and physical therapy. I am researching different surgeries that have been mentioned to me, such as a rib graft, or a total joint replacement. I am glad that I found this website and realize others are facing the same frustration as me. It is hard to understand the feelings unless you have experienced some of it yourself. If anyone has any thoughts on my surgeries or treatments feel free to comment Thanks!
Hi, Welcome! I'm sorry that you had to find us, but I am glad that you did. It sounds like you have been through a lot at a young age. I too had surgeries young due to being attacked by a dog as a child. I had a bilateral total joint replacement done about a year ago. It is really hard to tell you if I would do it again or if it was worth it. I have a Share Post coming soon that talks about the past year and how I have done. It has been difficult, and besides a little bit of function, I'm not sure that I have gained much in the way of pain relief from the joint replacements. Rib grafts are often done in young people when they are still growing because the rib takes very well and integrates into the jaw. It's more of a risk to do it when you are older, however, it has been done successfully. It is just a rare surgery.
Have you been to a pain management specialist? That is the most help I have gotten - it hasn't been from oral surgeons, physical therapists, splints, etc but from a pain doctor.
Anyway, let me know if you have any questions about the surgeries you have mentioned or anything else.
So nice to hear from you. It's always good to see you posting, as you are such a wealth of information. (Although I am so sorry about how you gained all of that info, and sorry and kind of angry somehow that it did not help you all that much.) I'm hoping that over time you will see more improvements. In the meantime, I look forward to your next article and update on yourself. Take care.
Hi and, welcome. I, too, have been through (far too many) tmj surgeries. We did an incredible amount of surgery while trying to keep from removing and replacing my own joints. Finally, the joints had to come out and were replaced... not very well, either time, and for different reasons. I am now, at this moment, without jaw-joints and, like Stacy said, am not sure if I would go through all of this again. In fact, IF I had known then what I do now know, there's NO WAY I would do anything past a temporalis muscle-flap. Hey, Ess: I have finally decided, for sure, where I would have stopped. So, as I await new joints, I am only hoping, at the best, to regain some function. I no longer even dare to hope for pain-relief. The surgeons no longer give me much hope in the area of pin relief, either. Perhaps they're making me wait for so long without the joints that I'll appreciate them all the more?? hehe No, I do believe that tmj surgeries are only done to help with function; not pain. In fact the amount of pain I deal with on a daily basis is worse then I could ever have imagined some twenty years ago. Please take this as a cautionary tale. I honestly do not know of ANY tmj patient (esp those of us with jont-replacements) who is able to live without pain medications. If you can stand it without, please try and do this for as long as is possible. Anne
Hey, I forgot to say one more thing: I HAD rib grafts and they failed immediately, within 6 months. The failure rate of rib graffts is 70-100 percent! It may be a good idea (though I don't think so, having been there) but, the failure rate is far too high and you are so very young to go through this! Anne
