Any doctors here (or: wtf is wrong with my jaw)?

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

I've had some consistent jaw clenching/tension going on for like the past 5 days now, and it's starting to hurt/f#&king suck. I guess I shouldn't have been jamming my thumb into it all those times, afterall. http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/madsquare.gif

(btw, we should really add that angry square smilie)

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Oh just great. :rolleyes:

I guess I'll be adding little yellow carisoprodol pills to my diet.

[StanLee]

David, you'll have to tell your lady friend that you can't go south for a while!:D

[txhapkido]

Is that like below the equator!:p:p :p :p

[Tripitaka of AA]

I thought the symptoms and history were a little brief for a diagnosis, but I hope you let us know how you get on. I'm intrigued to find if Phil got the right diagnosis from such a vague description.

[Tripitaka of AA]

Are your Tetanus jabs up-to-date? Been bitten by any wild animals lately, or recieved a cut from a dirty instrument?


Been punched/kicked/struck on the jaw recently?

Read too many dull threads on E-Budo and you've been working on suppressing the yawn-reflex. Now my muscles are going into spasm just thinking about it.:(

[monkeyboy_ssj]

Have you been eatting my Mum's meatloaf?

If so, go see a doctor now.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Are your Tetanus jabs up-to-date? Been bitten by any wild animals lately, or recieved a cut from a dirty instrument?

Yeah, all the shots are up to date and no bites or cuts that I know of.

No injuries that I can think of.


Read too many dull threads on E-Budo and you've been working on suppressing the yawn-reflex.

Yeah, almost anything political. That goes for the entire internet though.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Have you been eatting my Mum's meatloaf?

Wait... are speaking in terms of bad meatloaf, or is this a subtle way of calling me gay, complete with reference to your cross dressing father? Cause if it's the latter, madsquare sez you're gonna pay for such an accusation! http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/madsquare.gif

[monkeyboy_ssj]

Originally posted by TenguAteMyPuppy
Wait... are speaking in terms of bad meatloaf, or is this a subtle way of calling me gay, complete with reference to your cross dressing father? Cause if it's the latter, madsquare sez you're gonna pay for such an accusation! http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/madsquare.gif

No, I just mean my mum can't cook meatloaf...:)

Cheers

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

"Yeah, that's what I THOUGHT." ~madsquare http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/madsquare.gif

[n2shotokai]

More info please. You are 23. Do you have a gf you see frequently from all angles? Are you a people pleaser? Are you under stress? Do you grind your teeth when you sleep?

It is common to get your jaw slighly out of alignment (especially you inexperienced young guys):D , then again, you may have gotten into some bad stuff and you only have days to live :(

DOC quack quack Steve Beale

Go see a real doctor!

[monkeyboy_ssj]

Originally posted by TenguAteMyPuppy
"Yeah, that's what I THOUGHT." ~madsquare http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/madsquare.gif

I think you just like using your newly found mad square ;)

read like a book :D

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

You are 23.

Nope.


Do you have a gf you see frequently from all angles?

If by girlfriend, you mean internet porn. http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/madsquare.gif


Are you a people pleaser?

lol


Are you under stress?

Not really.


Do you grind your teeth when you sleep?

I probably do now.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

I think you just like using your newly found mad square

It's true. I used to have one I liked better, but it seems to have disappeared... OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

[Shitoryu Dude]

I liked the madsquare - he was cool.

Go see a doctor. While women are hypchrondriacs who will see a doctor within 10 minutes of watching a Lifetime movie about anything, men in general will only see a doctor if perhaps they are bleeding to death or their brains have to begun to leak out their left ear.

You are in pain for no good reason - something is wrong - get your butt down to the doctor.

:beer:

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

I'm actually going to a doctor this afternoon, but it's some sort of psychiatrist, and it's concerning my insomnia. My main doctor gave me Atarax for it [insomnia], but it doesn't work in the prescribed dosage and is causing large sores in my mouth.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

...and why do I only have 15 posts now?

[n2shotokai]

Originally posted by TenguAteMyPuppy
Nope.


Got it from your profile, I suggest you take the day and month off. Sorry!




and is causing large sores in my mouth.

Ummmmmmm ....... I don't know how to tell you this, but maybe it's not the meds :eek:

Steve Beale

[Shitoryu Dude]

Been getting any strange 'tang recently?

:beer:

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Got back from the first doctor.

Doctor: "Well, it's TMJ."
Me: "That's nice. It f#%king hurts. What do you plan to do about this, seeing as how 800mg of Ibproufen didn't exactly do much (read: nothing)."
Doctor: "Take more Ibproufen and asprin."
Me: "Yeah.... I hate you.

[Paul Kerr]

Doctor: "Well, it's TMJ."



Hey!! Kudos to Phil for the online diagnosis. Time for the long-distance faith healing service Phil :D

[Shitoryu Dude]

link to TMJ informatino (http://health.yahoo.com/health/centers/oral_care/416.html)

I suggest you mellow out, get a few beers, and then find a cute girl to service you several times until you relax a bit.

:beer:

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

I am relaxed! http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/madsquare.gif

Nah, at the most I'm just a bit frustrated. If the second doctor doesn't give me something, ANYTHING, I swear to god I am going to take a hammer to my jaw... possibly in the doctor's office (for maximum effect).

Oh yeah, I don't drink much. I make a terrible, annoying, and most of all easily agitated angry drunk.

I may indeed take you suggestion to go make a fool out of myself in front of attractive women, if this wonderful TMJ clears up so my jaw doesn't make a HORRIBLE POPPING SOUND followed by streaking shots of pain when I talk for too long.

[Shitoryu Dude]

Have they prescribed any muscle relaxants? Perhaps a dentist would be a better source of treatment....sounds as if you need some serious pain meds, and quite frankly, I don't think Ibuprofin or aspirin really counts.

If necessary, lock yourself away from everyone and then get drunk - it will also help with the pain.

:beer:

[Steve Williams]

Originally posted by Shitoryu Dude

I suggest you mellow out, get a few beers, and then find a cute girl to service you several times until you relax a bit.

:beer:

So how is the cute girl servicing you going to make you RELAX.......

Harvey, you have a strange way with women :eek: ;)

[Jay Bell]

Like many have said before, it sounds like TMJ...or possibly a severe case of Bruxism.

Bruxism is an anxiety condition where the body releases tension by grinding the jaw without conscious thought. Normally, very hard loud grinding while sleeping or while driving, etc.

I'd definately get to a doc as soon as possible. If it's TMJ, it could be a very horrible...and permanent experiance.

----------

Woops...I didn't read yet that you'd already been.

DO NOT let your doctor blow you off like that. TMJ *can* be treated...surgery can be done as a last resort. Find a specialist in TMJ and tell your doc to go jump off. Total b.s.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Yeah, they're giving me the run (in excruciating pain) around.

The main doctor won't give me a thing.

The psychiatrist is an analyst/social worker/screener.

The "real" psychiatrist is busy.

Urgent care can't fit me in for another three hours.

Wonderful.

To top it all off, I guess I won't be getting back to practice tonight. This is getting ridiculous.

[n2shotokai]

I just love the "go get drunk" suggestions. If I am in pain and irritable because of it, the last thing you want to do is give me booze. I would be taking a hammer to the Docs jaw!

Steve Beale

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Yeah, besides, I'm low on cash. I don't get paid for another two weeks.


Have they prescribed any muscle relaxants? Perhaps a dentist would be a better source of treatment....sounds as if you need some serious pain meds, and quite frankly, I don't think Ibuprofin or aspirin really counts.

They have not. The SOB wouldn't even give me APAP. APAP is like f#%king hydrocodone for kids.

[Shitoryu Dude]

Where are you located? You medical treatment is starting to sound very lame and half-assed.

:beer:

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

San Diego, and I have Kaiser ...and it does suck.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

So, I finally choked 15 hydrocodones out of our wonderful healthcare system. They also gave me dexamethasone and lidocaine mouthwashes, for the inflammation of one of the sores in my mouth (possibly from a reaction to the Atarax).

I think they realized it needed a little more than Ibproufen when I described the headache resulting from the popping of the jaw to that of having a migraine and an aneurysm, simultaneously. What caused the popping? Yawning.

I am now feeling much better, and this should all be gone in a few days, with any luck.

[StanLee]

David, I think I will start calling you by the name Captain Lockjaw!

How did you get this illness by the way?

[Random]

A good chiropractor can help out without the meds. A facial massage also helps my wife gets TMJ occasionally and out chiropractor showed me where to rub to relax the muscle in her jaw that is binding up and causing the pain.
I always try to fix the problem without medicine if possible.

[pacman2323]

What Random said is usually the best treatement as well as hot compresses.Medicine is good to get rid of pain and inflamation.
TMJ is usually caused by either stress or dental problems.My friend has real bad TMJ her jaw can lock open for an hour!

-Chi Jonesone

[Shitoryu Dude]

Kaiser sucks - run by accountants. You basically can't get treatment unless you are bleeding to death, repeatedly make an annoyance of yourself, or threaten the doctor with sudden removal of his testicles.

Start bitching about the quality of health care to your HR department and to Kaiser. Let them know that their bean-counter version of half-assed medicine is going to get them bad mouthed to anyone who will listen.

:beer:

[bruceb]

If there is one thing I have learned bout pain it is that you must learn to handle the stress by understanding what is causeing the stress and relieve it, eat better so that your body operates correctly, and pay attention to your lifestyle which might be the whole cause of the problems of pain and suffereing.

WTF with your jaw? If no treatable virus or bacteria is the cause, then it must be a result of stress to which your body is manifesting a physical response.

On the other hand, there are a number of insect bites and viruses that also mimic this condition, so maybe some more detailed blood samples and tests should be ordered to eliminate this possibility by your doctor.

They tell me the Bell's Palsy I had on either side of my face was a virus attacking the brain stem, but I still don't understand how that was possible with an intervention of two years between strokes? Still, depending upon the observations of the patient, the doctor takes all the symptoms into consideration, so as much information that you can remember over a period of time along with tests will either find a proper diagnosis or not.

The physical symptoms may be caused by something as simple as stress, or something as complicated as an insect bite.

I would give up living with this questionable diagnosis is the pain persists ... you might have to push a bit to get a some resolution if the pain continues by getting your doctor to authorize some tests to eliminate other possibilities.

[Steve Williams]

Who or what is "Kaiser"........

[Steve Williams]

And this should really be in budo and the body, not the lounge......


So now it is :D

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Kaiser Permanente. It's an HMO here in the states.

Well, actually it turned out that the sores caused by the Atarax in my mouth were inflamed, and draining into the lymph nodes causing the TMJ pain... or something to that effect. Now most of the pain is gone, with the occasional grinding.

Thanks for all the advice. All put to much good use.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Sorry about that. Thought this fourm was for martial arts injuries only.

[MarkF]

Originally posted by TenguAteMyPuppy
Kaiser Permanente. It's an HMO here in the states.

Well, actually it turned out that the sores caused by the Atarax in my mouth were inflamed, and draining into the lymph nodes causing the TMJ pain... or something to that effect. Now most of the pain is gone, with the occasional grinding.

Thanks for all the advice. All put to much good use.

Atarax is an antihistamine and depending on dosage and the person can caused dryness in the mouth and other places. Normally, it is prescribed for allergies, but it does make people drowsy. This is due to reduced saliva which protects your mouth, teeth and throat from infections, and the sores were an obvious sign whether your mouth felt dry or not. I was going to suggest you use Saliva substitute and if you are still taking Atarax I'd suggest you use it even when this does pass when your mouth feels dry. Is the sore going away? Make sure to keep an eye on it especially if your glands still feel enlarged or the pain doesn't ease without painkillers BTW: APAP is Acetaminophen; Tylenol, nothing else. APAP w/Codeine is probably what you were thinking of.

For the grinding (bruxism), you can get a mouth guard made for you similar to the mouthpieces boxers use.


Mark

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Yeah, antihistamines and I never did get along too well. I don't know how long they'll be around, even if I did want to continue taking them. I gave 'em to someone else who had sleep trouble, and they seem to have helped him.


APAP w/Codeine is probably what you were thinking of.

Right. I don't know why, but I've gotten into the habit of refering to acetaminophen with codeine as just APAP. People tend to know what I'm talking about either way.

[Jim_Jude]

Hey bro, you ought to get the grinding resolved. You might want to look up the Feldenkrais Movement Institute up in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. They have TMJ programs, or at least an easy-to-follow tape set that I suggested to a friend of mine that ground her teeth & was getting migraines from the pent-up tension in her jaw. Turned out to be TMJ, & the tapes worked like a charm.
http://www.feldenkraisglobal.com
I've been up there for some of their basic workshops & they're wonderful.
Good luck.

[TenguAteMyPuppy]

Update: It's back on both sides. I went home early from work today because of it.