"TMJ" - Initials That Stand For Lots Of Unpleasant Things

OK, let's talk about pain. Wait! Don't run – stay with me a minute. I'm not talking about toothache pain. I'm talking about something more subtle. Tons of people live with this kind of pain most days or even every day and can't figure out why. Their doctors tell them different things depending on the doctor's specialty (when you are a hammer everything looks like a nail).

The chronic discomfort makes people depressed and sometimes a little desperate. Patients sometimes tell me they feel as if they are going crazy. They change they way they eat and they avoid foods that make them hurt. Sometimes they take medications, often strong medications, to get some relief.

A surprising percentage of the time, the problem turns out to be what dentists who know about this call "TMJ" (it has other names like "TMD" and "Myofascial Pain Dysfunction syndrome"). They are all pretty much the same thing and the name doesn’t matter if you have it.

Do you have any of these symptoms?

• Frequent headaches, including what has been diagnosed as "migraine".
  
• Clicking or pain in the jaw joints.
  
• Pain or difficulty when opening or closing the mouth.
  
• Pain, ringing, or fullness in the ears.
  
• Neck, shoulder, and/or facial pain.
  
• Eye pain or visual disturbances.

Some things that can cause this are:

• Trauma to the jaw.
• Teeth clenching or grinding (bruxism), especially in sleep.
• Improper bite alignment.
• Overactivity of the motor and sensory nerves that connect to the muscles of your face, which sets off spasms in those muscles.

Sound familiar? If it does, you may have TMJ.

You'd be amazed how many people have this. It shouldn't be ignored, because it gets worse over time.

Call our office. Send e-mail. We'll take you seriously. We'll review your history, conduct a gentle thorough examination, and discuss our findings. If you do have TMJ problems, we'll help get you feeling better again.

We have a special interest and special training in the the treatment of these special problems. You can feel comfortable again. Don’t live with chronic pain or dysfunction any longer. Relief could be just a few visits away.

Hushing Up Your Lizard Brain

We say we want one thing, then we do another. We say we want a great smile, but we say no when the dentist tells us how to have one. We say we want to replace some missing teeth, but we hesitate when the dentists tells us how.

Why is it so difficult to do what we say we want?

The lizard brain.

The lizard is a physical part of your brain, the pre-historic lump near the brain stem that is responsible for fear and rage and reproductive drive. Its actual name is the amygdala.

One writer described it as the resistance. The resistance is the voice in the back of our head telling us to back off, be careful, go slow, wait, compromise. The resistance is about putting things off because we aren't absolutely dead perfect sure about something.

The resistance grows in strength as we get closer to deciding to act.

That's because the lizard brain hates change and achievement and risk.

Want to know why so many companies can't keep up with Apple? It's because most companies compromise, have meetings, fear critics and generally work to appease the CEO's lizard. Having lots of meetings is just one symptom of an organization run by the lizard brain. Late lunches, middle of the road products and the excuses that go with them are others.

Dental patients are like that sometimes. They say that they will talk it over with someone, or do it next year, or they really aren't that eager to have it, they are worried about money, or the treatment, they are busy right now, and on and on.

So time passes and they get older and older and they never pull the trigger and say "YES". And they don't experience that wonderful feeling of making a decision and getting something they want. And the lizard wins.

So sad.

The amygdala isn't going away. Your lizard brain is here to stay, and your job is to figure out how to quiet it and ignore it. This is so important, and that's why I decided to blog it.

Now you've seen the lizard and you know its name. What are you going to do about it?

We can help. All you have to do is call and say, "I want (whatever) but I'm having a problem with the lizard." We'll focus in with you on your lizard's fears and help you tell the lizard to shut up. We are very good at that; it's why we are successful.

It's easy. 845-297-6206. DrSteveRoss@aol.com. You can dial or use a keyboard, can't you? After all, it's only a little lizard stopping you.