Woke up with my jaw locked shut. *Update page 3*

January 30, 2018, 05:22 PM

smithnsig

Another update
Jaw still locked. Not completely, I can get one finger in there. It has however become quite painful. I have my MRI results back, and scheduled to see the surgeon this Monday in Birmingham.
The new Prior auth requirements are a pain with anything out of network.

Any oral surgeons on here? Wanna give me an unofficial opinion of my MRI impressions?

January 30, 2018, 05:24 PM

Sigmanic

Good God man, have you been losing weight?

January 30, 2018, 06:03 PM

MNSIG

quote:
Originally posted by smithnsig:Any oral surgeons on here? Wanna give me an unofficial opinion of my MRI impressions?

I'm an orthodontist, not an OMS, but I'd be surprised if it's not an anterior disc displacement.

January 30, 2018, 08:01 PM

smithnsig

quote:
Originally posted by MNSIG:
quote:
Originally posted by smithnsig:Any oral surgeons on here? Wanna give me an unofficial opinion of my MRI impressions?

I'm an orthodontist, not an OMS, but I'd be surprised if it's not an anterior disc displacement.

“Little motion at the tm joint. In both the open and closed posits the condyles overrides the eminence. There is soft tissue within the glenoid fossa, but no discreet disc material is identified. No marrow edema.

No significant motion at the tm joint bilaterally. In both the open and closed mouth positions, the condyles override the eminence-partially open mouth posit. The discs are never identified. There is no effusion. Soft tissue filling the glenoid fossa may represent fibrosis.”

Care to translate? I know a little knee and spinal anatomy and terms, but this is a little much for me to understand.

January 30, 2018, 08:03 PM

Balzé Halzé

quote:
Originally posted by Sigmanic:
Good God man, have you been losing weight?

No kidding. Yowser.

Man, you are in my thoughts.

January 30, 2018, 08:05 PM

smithnsig

quote:
Originally posted by Sigmanic:
Good God man, have you been losing weight?

Hah, a little. I can actually eat and chew a little if I can get it in to my mouth. Eating mushy food is not the best food either.

January 31, 2018, 09:44 AM

MNSIG

quote:
Originally posted by smithnsig:The discs are never identified. There is no effusion. Soft tissue filling the glenoid fossa may represent fibrosis.”

Care to translate? I know a little knee and spinal anatomy and terms, but this is a little much for me to understand.

Not quite the same type of joint, but in knee terminology, your meniscus is destroyed and has been replaced by fibrous scar tissue.

January 31, 2018, 10:33 AM

smithnsig

quote:
Originally posted by MNSIG:
quote:
Originally posted by smithnsig:The discs are never identified. There is no effusion. Soft tissue filling the glenoid fossa may represent fibrosis.”

Care to translate? I know a little knee and spinal anatomy and terms, but this is a little much for me to understand.

Not quite the same type of joint, but in knee terminology, your meniscus is destroyed and has been replaced by fibrous scar tissue.

fantastic....

February 02, 2018, 10:48 AM

Fenris

Wasn't there a Twilight Zone episode about this?

February 02, 2018, 04:47 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
Wasn't there a Twilight Zone episode about this?

Maybe you are thinking of the episode where the millionaire offers to pay a guy a million bucks if he does not speak for a year. The guy makes it a whole year, the millionaire is bankrupt and the guy had cut out his tongue to win the bet. Typical gallows humor.

February 05, 2018, 06:14 PM

smithnsig

Saw the surgeon in Birmingham. Wants me to come back feb 13 to do an injection and or some other stuff under sedation. Says it has a 60% chance of unlocking my jaw without surgery. I think I would go ahead and have the surgery if it was my choice.

So another week with a locked jaw.

February 05, 2018, 07:00 PM

slosig

quote:
Originally posted by smithnsig:
Saw the surgeon in Birmingham. Wants me to come back feb 13 to do an injection and or some other stuff under sedation. Says it has a 60% chance of unlocking my jaw without surgery. I think I would go ahead and have the surgery if it was my choice.

So another week with a locked jaw.

From experience with some really good surgeons, when they recommend against cutting, one is very wise to listen. The surgeon’s mantra is, “A chance to cut is a chance to cure.” However, the experienced guys know that surgery is not consequence free and if the body can be coaxed to heal itself or healed with less invasive intervention the result can often be better and the recover quicker.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when surgery isn’t the best approach, it just mean that if the guy whose new swimming your prospective surgery might help pay for thinks surgery isn’t the first best approach, he might be on to something...

February 05, 2018, 07:01 PM

cparktd

Hoping the best for you. Stock up on easy to eat stuff in the mean time!

I basically lived for a year on Yogurt, Applesauce, Mixed fruit cups and Ensure drinks for protein until they operated on me for my Achalasia in 2013. I did lose from ~230 down to 160 though.

February 05, 2018, 09:48 PM

Rey HRH

You would think someone would be concerned enough about your condition to want to do something about it now.

I just hope it unlocks on its own way before your next appointment. You're a whole lot more patient than me.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

February 05, 2018, 10:12 PM

TMats

Man, a long time to suffer from this! Hard for me to understand why you don’t have a definitive diagnosis by now. All the best in a cure...and soon

February 05, 2018, 10:49 PM

KMitch200

quote:
Originally posted by smithnsig:
Saw the surgeon in Birmingham. Wants me to come back feb 13 to do an injection and or some other stuff under sedation. Says it has a 60% chance of unlocking my jaw without surgery. I think I would go ahead and have the surgery if it was my choice.
So another week with a locked jaw.

That's really good news. I hope it works!

quote:
@ReyHRH - You're a whole lot more patient than me.

It's only been a month and a half! What's the rush?

Fingers crossed for you smithnsig.

February 05, 2018, 10:58 PM

Fenris

quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
quote:
Wasn't there a Twilight Zone episode about this?

Maybe you are thinking of the episode where the millionaire offers to pay a guy a million bucks if he does not speak for a year. The guy makes it a whole year, the millionaire is bankrupt and the guy had cut out his tongue to win the bet. Typical gallows humor.

No this was some wealthy guy in a castle. An expert doctor comes from far away. The doctor temporarily cures with an injection then leaves. But the lock returns and he is going to starve to death. But the cure was just plain water. The doctor tells the servant but the servant but the servant does not tell his master because the master is cruel. He starves.

It may not have been twilight Zone. Maybe a late night movie.

February 05, 2018, 11:08 PM

Sigfest

Good Luck to you!

February 06, 2018, 07:39 AM

smithnsig

quote:
Originally posted by slosig:
quote:
Originally posted by smithnsig:
Saw the surgeon in Birmingham. Wants me to come back feb 13 to do an injection and or some other stuff under sedation. Says it has a 60% chance of unlocking my jaw without surgery. I think I would go ahead and have the surgery if it was my choice.

So another week with a locked jaw.

From experience with some really good surgeons, when they recommend against cutting, one is very wise to listen. The surgeon’s mantra is, “A chance to cut is a chance to cure.” However, the experienced guys know that surgery is not consequence free and if the body can be coaxed to heal itself or healed with less invasive intervention the result can often be better and the recover quicker.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when surgery isn’t the best approach, it just mean that if the guy whose new swimming your prospective surgery might help pay for thinks surgery isn’t the first best approach, he might be on to something...

I hear what you are saying but This is one of those things about your body that you know. A big run of prednisone I have already taken completely took away the swelling and pain. My jaw was still physically blocked from opening.

He does the injection and the surgery so he will get me coming and going. Besides, I think it’s an insurance thing with trying this first.