I don’t know if anybody remembers, but back right before Christmas I dislocated my jaw. It had been happening for years, but would seem to always pop back in to place. Well the last time it didn’t. MRI showed a dislocated and disintegrated “disc” and scar tissue in the area where the disc is supposed to be.

Ok, 6 MONTHS later, insurance finally decided all other options have been exhausted and surgery is needed. (Florida Blue sux).

I’m going to Birmingham June 20 to have orthoscopic disc replacement and scar tissue removal. FINALLY!!

I’m a happy camper...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: smithnsig,

Hope all goes well, what is the recovery time on a procedure like that?

Glad you're gonna get fixed up. Health insurance companies suck.

Good luck with the procedure. My wife has severe TMJ to where the condyles in her jaw joint deteriorated. It was so bad the bone wore a hole in her tendon.

A couple years back she had a fat graft procedure where they injected spun fat into the joint to act as a buffer between the condyle and socket. She was banded shut for a solid week and then periodic movement for progressively through the next month. So far its worked for her.

Jaw issues suck and I hope this works for you.

Boy, six months of dealing with that, wow. Hope they get you fixed up better than new.

quote:

Originally posted by SR025:
Hope all goes well, what is the recovery time on a procedure like that?

3-7 days. Soft food for another week after that. If everything goes well that is.

If it was open surgery, I would probably have to be wired shut for a bit.

Holy Smokes this has been a long time waiting!

Hope it works out for you. Godspeed on the recovery!

Best of luck to you and speedy recovery!

Best of luck. 6 months of dealing with that can be unsettling, I imagine.

Surgery complete! Could not do ortho, had to open it up, but didn’t have to wire it shut thankfully. The bone was in good shape and this is also great news.

He ended up cleaning out a bunch of scar tissue, this had been happening for a while.

The procedure is called a TMJ reconstruction. The disc or pad that mandible rides on had dislocated, and would not relocate. After a while it basically disintegrated. The scar tissue build up was impeding the mandible so it would not allow it to open past about 20%. He reconstructed a pad (I don’t even know if it’s prosthetic or tissue) and attached it to the ligament. Hopefully this will allow a more complete recovery. The bone being undamaged was a real blessing.

On the negative, the open procedure doubles or triples recovery time. Instead of a week, I’m looking at 2-3 weeks before solid food.

It is very painful. It’s probably the most post op pain I have had, even though the others were major surgeries.

On the positive, the open procedure is usually more thorough and has a significantly higher long term success rate.

I’m just glad it’s finally over.

Great to hear your surgery went well! Hang in there with the pain.

Glad to hear everything seemed to go well. I hope you have a quick recovery!!

Glad the surgery went well. I hope your recovery is smooth and complication free.