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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

I've had thyroid problems since my teens, and TMJ since my mid twenties.
It was the second AI disease I acquired.  The first time I saw a
doctor for it, I was told about that jaw-breaking surgery, too.  I was
also advised to procrastinate it as long as possible.  Over the past 25
years, I would say I have had episodes of TMJ that lasted anywhere from
15 minutes to 2 weeks before it pops back in.  I have had no intention
of having surgery-I'd probably die of anorexia first.  I've probably had
less than 15 episodes in my life, and only 2 or 3 memorable flares.
This latest flare is getting under my skin because it is coming and
going..one day I am good, the next 4 days, I can't bite down.
Generally, it is no big deal.
Anyway, I know exactly what you are talking about with holding your
mouth right.  That is pretty much all I have ever done over the
years-that and take ibuprofen for the associated headaches and muscle
aches...I try to bite correctly and make mental notes of how my mouth
feels when my teeth meet and everything works.  Once, one episode of TMJ
happened, back when we lived in the city, and a chiropractor neighbor
'fixed me' in one painful split second.  He showed me how to pop it
back, and made me do it, but I have since forgotten since it has been so
long ago.  It was instant relief though.  That was my first chiropractic
experience, and it was a good one.  The same guy helped my neck on
another occasion.
I'm thinking that a turmeric regime might eliminate TMJ, when my own
consciousness fails me.  TMJ is more like OA than RA..

Bev

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:
> \
>
> > > I have TMJ, but it rarely gives me
> > trouble.  For the last 3 weeks, I haven't been able to chew well, 
> > and I've lost about 10 pounds now.  The last time it flared up was 
> > about 5 years ago, and that only lasted a day or two.  I was 
> > taught, once, how to put my jaw back, but I've forgotten the 
> > technique and that's not something I want to try without someone to
> >  guide me on popping it back right.  I would love alternatives for 
> > things like TMJ...
>
> Bev, herself had TMJ some years back so bad that she could scarcely 
> eat for a week at a time.  She's never had body mass to spare, so I 
> became quite concerned.
>
> We went to, if memory serves, eight different dentists and oral 
> surgeons. All eight gave a different opinion but seven of them agreed
>  that a drastic and invasive intervention was necessary otherwise the
>  condition would in no wise ever clear up.  In fact, it would just
> get worse and worse.    Genuine TMJ here before one composes a
> critique of his, I saw the X-rays, more than one set, and had more
> than one dentist explain them.  Genuine TMJ and rather serious at
> that.
>
> One said the jawbone had to be broken and reset in a different 
> alignment. One said shims had to be surgically implanted in the TMJ 
> joint.  One said some teeth had to be removed and a prosthesis 
> installed. Etc.
>
> The last dentist was one I took an instant dislike to, and she me. 
> But the woman knew her stuff and no mistake.  While Herself was in 
> the dentist chair, said dentist, having heard the tales of woe and 
> jaw breaking, rolled her eyes, grabbed a mirror and held it up for 
> Herself to see.  "Look, see here how you habitually line the midline 
> of your upper teeth and the midline of your lower teeth?  Well, don't
>  do that, do it like this."  She took Herself's mandible and moved it
>  to a different place, subtle but observable.
>
> Herself practiced in front of a mirror for a couple of weeks 
> reminding herself what it felt like when the jaws were on the target 
> alignment.  The TJM went away and here fifteen years later has never 
> returned.
>
> My sister, of an age with herself, also develped TMJ.  She had been a
>  nurse and had the most prodiginous faith in surgery.  She opted to 
> have one of those jaw breaking operations.  The nerves and muscles 
> never quite healed right and it spoiled the appearance of my very 
> pretty sister.  Moreover, she had to have two more operations on her 
> throat to correct things caused by the first operation.  And for all 
> that, she still has the TMJ problem.
>
> Now I know, faith in medicine and earnest skepticism of anything else
>  obliges many to conclude that the only explanation is that Herself's
>  TMJ was not really all that bad or even present at all.  Not so.
>
> A dentist makes no money at all telling you to hold your mouth a 
> certain way. They make a bundle on surgical procedures.
>
> James _______________________________________________ Homestead list 
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--
The true significance of Sacajawea's involvement in the Lewis & Clark
expedition is that it was the first documented trip in history where men
asked a woman for directions and followed them, allowing them to arrive
at their destination.