Read the article at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-20/melbourne-man-receives-titanium-3d-printed-prosthetic-jaw/6536788
Surgeons successfully implant a titanium 3D-Printed prosthetic Jaw in a Melbourne man in an Australian first operation. This technology would improve the quality and accuracy of custom made prosthesis.
Read the article at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-20/melbourne-man-receives-titanium-3d-printed-prosthetic-jaw/6536788
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The use of Botox has been found to be effective in relieving TMJ and related myofascial pain. However, a pilot study lead by Dr. Karen Raphael from New York University (NYU) and a team of French investigators who recently published an article in the journal Bone1 found that Botox injections cause bone loss in the jaw. The National Institute of Health is now funding a five year $4 million clinical trial.
Please refer to these two articles: http://today.uconn.edu/2014/12/popular-cosmetic-fix-may-threaten-bone-density/ http://www.tmj.org/site/page?pageId=327 I was sitting with my husband at dinner and I said to him "I'm in a lot of pain" and he said "I know.". I then asked him how he knew. He said that there are small signs that he notices; my eyes gets smaller, I talk without moving my jaw and talk through my lips and mumble a lot, I make a lot of spelling mistakes when I text or message him and my face twitches. I can't tell my face is twitching. I can't feel anything. If you have any other signs of pain, share them in the comments.
Through this blog, I met a very inspiring lady who recently had a Bilateral TMJ Replacement by the same surgeon as myself (Dr. Psutka). I'd like to share with you her TMJ journey which she documented through this inspiring video.. Click HERE to view video in Youtube.
Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dafnaMA0S1Y&feature=youtu.be Thank you Rudi for sharing your incredible story with all of us! A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. In March 2015, it started with 24 hours of all fluids going through my bowels. No matter how much water I drank, it went through my bowels. No peeing. Then I had diarrhea for a few days with cramps, bloating and pain. Immediately while eating or drinking, I would get pain. It went away on it's own. My family doctor prescribed Nexium. Just after I came back from Mexico, I had another episode. Again, it started with water flushing through my bowels. It lasted for 48 hours this time. I was extremely fatigued and tired. I slept for two days. No energy to even move. It was very hard to keep hydrated because all the water went straight through me. Then the diarrhea lasted for 8 days. I finally took Imodium over the counter medication to help get back to a normal bowel movement. The doctor said it could be a virus, bacterial infection or IBS. I did some tests and am waiting for the results.
I can't remember where I read it, but I read that many people who have TMJ problems also have IBS. To me, IBS is a catch all for "we don't really know what's wrong". Regardless, there may be a connection between intestinal/bowel problems and TMJ. I think it may have something to do with the stress of having TMJ. I'll have to do some research on the connection. Do any of you who have TMJ also have IBS? If yes, what are your symptoms? We just came back from vacation to the Paradisus Playa La Carmen in the Mayan Riviera. We had a fabulous time. They were having a heat wave at the time. At 7:30am, it was 103'F. The humidity was almost unbearable. Both my husband and I developed heat rash. However, I was in my glory...... I had almost no pain. It was wonderful being virtually pain free! It was the best 8 nights and 9 days I could ever ask for. If we could, my husband and I would move to Mexico just because it has such a positive influence on my TMJ. How many of you who travel and have had a TMJ replacement get nervous every time you have to go through security at the airport? I know it is so silly and stupid, but I always worry about setting off the security machines with the screws in my jaw. I have dreams about the alarms going off. I have never set if off, but I am always nervous about it. Here are a few pictures from my trip..... I had a dentist appointment this past week. I've gotten to know my family dentist very well over the past 5+ years. We joke around all the time. She helps make what has been a traumatic experience (going to the dentist) a fun one.
During my recall exam, she was checking my jaw joints (TMJ). Basically, she places her hands on either side of my head where my jaw joints are and asks me to open and close. I asked her "Do they feel real or fake?". I'm glad we have a good relationship and she understood that I was referring to my joints. (As opposed to my breasts, since "are they real or fake" is a question that normally applies to that body part and could have become a very funny situation). Anyways, she said that no one has ever asked her that. She does have a couple patients that have prosthetic joints. She was taken aback by my question because I completed surprised her. Her response was that they feel fake. I personally cannot tell that they are fake. I don't hear any noise. They feel real to me. When I first had the surgery, they did make noises due to the swelling. However, now they are silent. The only difference is that I cannot move my jaw side to side with prosthetic joints. I can move them only a very tiny amount side to side, more like a tiny wiggle. Basically my primary movement is up and down. When I chew, I basically open and close. I don't move side to side and do not perform a grinding movement like I used to do. I find it takes me longer to eat my food. It's not that I am a "slow" eater and take my time..... it's more like I have to chew up and down more in order to get my food to the same state as I could previously where I was able to grind up my food with my teeth. I have my yearly check-up with my Oral & Maxofacial Surgeon who did my Bilateral TMJ Replacement on Monday April 13th, 2015. There is one thing that I have to ask him, and I am wondering if any of you have experienced this as well. When I am sleeping, I often wake up to the feeling that I am swallowing something hard or big like a candy. I wake up just before I swallow. Since I am half asleep, I panic because I think that I have actually swallowed something. I do actually swallow, but the sensation is that it was something big and that it wasn't a "normal" swallowing action. The best way to describe it is that I swallowed a hard candy.
A similar experience has started in the last month to affect me while I am awake as well. It has happened twice while I was sitting on the couch playing a game on my iPad. Again, I swallowed but I also started coughing afterwards. It was like a swallowed something hard or a glob of saliva and it went down the wrong way. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the trigeminal nerve controls our ability to swallow. I know that I have had some trigeminal nerve damage from all the surgeries that I have had, and this nerve damage may be the cause of this sensation. If you have experienced something similar, please post in comments. Thanks! I will ask my surgeon about this at my appointment on Monday and let you know his response. UPDATE: I asked my surgeon and he said at night, it may be due to my snoring. I don't think I snore - I never heard myself snore, but then again my husband begs to differ! When I snore, my vocal cords get dry and swollen. I attempt to swallow in an effort to moisten and soothe them. The feeling is due to swallowing with swollen vocal cords. During the day, it may be due to post nasal drip that happened to go down the wrong way when I swallowed. If you experienced something similar and have a different answer from your doctor/surgeon, please let me know what he/she said in comments. The question I get asked the most is how did I feel after surgery? I did wake up in the recovery room after surgery finished. I basically opened my eyes, saw the nurses talking to me trying to wake me up, and then immediately closed my eyes and fell back asleep. I do not remember anything else from that moment.
The second time I woke up was when they wheeled me into my hospital room. I felt like I had been hit by a train, a bus, a dump truck, beat over the head with a baseball bat and run over by a car. In other words, I felt awful. At the time, I pretty much thought I was "all there" mentally. However, I didn't realize until the next day that I had a catheter in me (something new to me), that my eyes were not closing all the way, and that I had my jaw wired. I was awake but completely "out of it" mentally. I thought at the time that I was fine, but it wasn't until later that I realized that even my vision was very fuzzy and blurry. I do remember that my entire head hurt. Yes, it was painful. However, I did not ask for any more pain medication. I just didn't think of it to ask. I was so out of it and not thinking clearly. That night was awful. There was a light on above my bed and I wanted it to turn off, but didn't think to do it myself, or to ask someone to do it. I was awake most of the night because I was in so much pain. It wasn't that my jaw in specific was hurting me. It was more like my entire head was throbbing. I felt sick from all the anesthesia. I just felt sick overall. It may not be that I was physically in that much pain, it was just the way my entire body was feeling from having been through surgery.That was the worst night and the worst pain. From then on, the pain got less each and every day. The pain is no worse than a bad day prior to surgery. In fact, you've probably experienced more pain at some point than you will feel after surgery. The next day, I felt much better. I was able to get up and move around and go the bathroom after they removed the catheter. That day, my whole entire head stopped throbbing. The pain began to localize more around the jaw area and become more of the pain I had been used to. How much pain was I in? It was similar to the pain I was used to experiencing on my bad days. It wasn't any worse than that. My final thoughts..... If you can get through that first night after surgery, you'll be okay! The TMJ Association has developed a guide called, "TMD Nutrition and You," . It is a nutritional guide booklet specifically for people with compromised oral function to help them maintain a healthy diet in spite of their oral disability. To download this free guide booklet go to: http://www.tmj.org/common/file?id=179 |
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August 2016
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