Success Story - Lock Jaw/ displaced disk without reduction
I wanted to share my success story with lock jaw/displaced disk without reduction incase it helps others!! PRF INJECTIONS MADE MY JAW PAIN GO ALMOST FULLY AWAY!!!
Backstory- I’m 25 female, and 11 months ago I woke up one morning and my jaw was locked shut, only able to open 2mm (approx the size of a pea). I couldn’t move my jaw open, side to side, or anything, literally LOCKED! I clench and grind my teeth at night so I had a mouth guard in (made by my dentist) and my jaw locked WITH the mouth gaurd in. I could not open my mouth more than 2mm, and my massester muscles were so tight, it felt like someone was screwing my jaw shut. The pain was unbearable, I couldn’t eat, sleep, talk, laugh, work, etc. Went to TMJ specialist where they flushed my jaw joint and tried to manually manipulate my jaw to open. That only opened it to 10mm. After 7 months of Physical Therapy, muscle relaxers, jaw exercises, red light, ultrasounds, soft food only, no caffeine, sleep training, hypnotherapy, and thousands of dollars later, my jaw was only able to open to 28mm (approx 2 fingers) but was stuck there with no improvement and the pain was excruciating and my mental health was at an all time low, it was affecting every single aspect of my life, and I did not know how much more pain I could handle. Anyone going through this knows how exhausting the mental, physical, and emotional impact this has on your life. My PT also did not know what else to try. I felt hopeless so I went back to my tmj specialist to see what else they can do.
He said jaw surgery was an option but it’s very expensive, and isn’t 100% successful. He also recommended a super expensive mouth gaurd, but I knew that wouldn’t help with the pain/joint issues.
He then recommended PRF injections, but they were $1200 per injection, but I was desperate for any kind of relief, so I took a gamble and did the PRF injection on my left joint (the most painful side). And it literally saved my life.
What helped -
- PRF injections in jaw. My pain levels everyday were a 9/10. After PRF, my pain is now a 2/10. My jaw is still locked but the pain is SO much better. I never thought I’d get relief and PRF gave me that. It took 3-4 weeks for me a feel a difference, but WOW, PRF saved my life!!! Ask ur doctor about this!!!
A PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) joint injection is a regenerative treatment that uses a concentrated mixture of your own blood cells, growth factors, and a natural fibrin matrix. Doctors inject this fluid directly into a damaged or painful joint to reduce inflammation, ease pain, and encourage the repair of cartilage and connective tissue
Cut out nicotine, caffeine, and Mary Jane, if possible. This causes heavy clenching for some people. Also, eat only soft foods if you aren’t already.
3.
Hypnosis for sleep- I grind my teeth bad when I sleep, so listening to hypnotherapy (via YouTube) during sleep and it helped me trained my subconscious to be more mindful of grinding while I slept. Also purchased a nice pil low to help with sleep posture. Now sometimes I can wake myself up when I’m grinding.
4.
Important!! Daily movement and stretches of whole body,and focus massages on the masseter muscles. Take ur middle and index finger and do circle motions on ur massester muscles. Then take ur index and thumb, put ur thumb inside ur cheek towards the back, with ur index on the outside of ur cheek, and massage the internal/external muscle in circular motions.Next, put ur tongue behind ur two front teeth as if ur saying “no”, then slowly open close, open close, and repeat 10 times.
Do all of these atleast 3-4 times a day! Also try massaging ur neck and back muscles to help relieve tension. My physical therapist taught me to do this daily and it helped with tightness but did not help with pain
5. Be VERY mindful you are not clenching during the day. I kept repeating to myself “teeth apart, tongue on roof of mouth, lips slightly touching”. Or say “Montana” and where ur tongue ends, is where ur mouth should be at resting position.
6. Physical therapy. I did this twice a week for 3 months. It helped me open my mouth a few more MM, but did not help the pain at all!
I’m still on my journey to hopefully a full recovery, but wanted to share my success incase this helps anyone!