Hi, I'm currently reading Striking Back and have a question about something from Dr Kim Burchiel's list of "sorting out your face pain" on page 448. This is supposed to tell you what kind of face pain you have. On this list, the last question asks "When you place your index fingers in front of your ears, on both sides at once, and feel your jaw open and close, does the area under your fingers on either side hurt?"
Unfortunately, although they've given us these questions, they don't tell us what it means if you answer yes!
It does hurt when I do this, on my right-hand side, which is my TN side. Does anyone know what this means? Or where I might find out what it means? Any suggestions most gratefully accepted...
This reaction pattern might be an indicator for Tempro-Mandibular jJint disorder. If a neurologist or craniofacial pain specialist sees this pattern, they might also examine you further for clicking, restriction, or displacement of the joint, wear patterns in your teeth, and other dental confirmations of TMJ Disorder.
Regards, Red
Thanks, Red. I suspected that's what it was. What I need to know now is whether TMJ could cause (or aggravate) TN. Do you know if this is the case, or where I might find out?
Many thanks, Chancery
From what I've read over the past 20 years, TMJ and TN seem to be relatively discrete mechanisms, neither "caused by" the other. There's nothing to say you can't have both at the same time, and some people do. But we see no regular or reliable progression from one to the other, in either direction.
regards, Red
I don't feel it is TMJ, I don't have pain when I press there, but I found I clench my jaw, (and all the muscles in my face and neck and shoulders) when my pain gets bad. It just seems to be a subconscious reaction. I have talked about ways to relax when in pain with my doctors, it has helped me to feel less sore in general when I can fight the tension. Good luck!
Thanks, Red. Didn't think it was likely, because I've never seen a connection mentioned, but TN seems to be such a mystery illness, about which they know close to zero, it feels like anything might be possible - however tenuous!
Richard A. "Red" Lawhern said:
From what I've read over the past 20 years, TMJ and TN seem to be relatively discrete mechanisms, neither "caused by" the other. There's nothing to say you can't have both at the same time, and some people do. But we see no regular or reliable progression from one to the other, in either direction.
regards, Red
Yeah, Make Believe, tension (and stress) are a given with TN, and they both definitely make it worse. It's a bit like dentistry and TN; it seems almost like a chicken and egg situation - but you know what they say, correlation is not causation!
itwouldntbemakebelieve said:
I don't feel it is TMJ, I don't have pain when I press there, but I found I clench my jaw, (and all the muscles in my face and neck and shoulders) when my pain gets bad. It just seems to be a subconscious reaction. I have talked about ways to relax when in pain with my doctors, it has helped me to feel less sore in general when I can fight the tension. Good luck!
I am 3 days away from leaving my job and moving back in with my parents, I can only hope that will cause less stress. I am happily anticipating being able to sleep whenever I can and not going to work every day. I hope you can find ways of lowering stress and doctors who can treat your TN, possible TMJ, and anything else that comes up. :)
Good for you. It's one of the best things you can do: relieve yourself of responsibility. It's one of the dubious advantages of being in hospital; you get to leave all your responsibilities behind and someone takes care of you. Women aren't very good at taking care of themselves! Hope it works for you. X
itwouldntbemakebelieve said:
I am 3 days away from leaving my job and moving back in with my parents, I can only hope that will cause less stress. I am happily anticipating being able to sleep whenever I can and not going to work every day. I hope you can find ways of lowering stress and doctors who can treat your TN, possible TMJ, and anything else that comes up. :)
Thanks, My first "extended stay" at a hospital was 3 days when I was 15 and had my first kidney stones. There was a complete blockage so my kidney popped, and I had to have surgery to place a stent so it could have time to heal. I am painfully self reliant, and a nurse made the mistake of showing me how to disconnect myself from the heart monitor and take my IV with me. I kept going to the bathroom (in my room) on my own. I would come out to 3 nurses with their arms crossed asking why I didn't press the call button. :) Maybe accepting help is a lesson I am supposed to learn from all this poor health and pain, but I can be quite stubborn, haha.
3 nurses? You must be in the U.S! In the UK we are hard pushed to get one nurse to show up, no matter how often we push the call button (if you can find it!) But yes, you need to learn to let others take the load off you. You can't be self-reliant all the time. I'm like you and my first hospital stay (at 50-odd) was a terrible shock to me and I was very frightened, but after a while I got into the swing of it and started to enjoy it in an odd way. Afterwards, thinking about it, I realised I liked the autonomy; I could decide what I was going to eat, do - no consulting my other half or taking anyone else's feelings or wants into consideration. And I liked the mothering aspect, particularly with food. It was great just ordering from a menu and behold! the food would arrive regular as clockwork. Ah, if only I could get that in the 'real' world......
Yeah, I'm in the US and it was a Children's Hospital, so even more supervision than normal hospitals. I'm learning to not feel guilty when I have to ask for help and just enjoy and be grateful when people are there to help me out, at home and in hospitals. My favorite part of living in the dorms at my University was being able to order food, even if some of the food wasn't that great, I saved a lot of time not having to cook. When I first started my first "Adult" Job 2 years ago I didn't realize how easy I had it in college. Cooking after a 8-12 hour shift is hard. After a week I called my parents up and thanked my dad for working to support me, and thanked my mom for cooking dinners and making our school lunches. Wishing you pain free days!