I'm very confused right now, due to lack of information and a huge pool of unanswered questions.

I posted the following on a TMJ board earlier today, and when someone mentioned Trigeminal Neuralgia it lead it me here.

I would hugely appreciate it if someone knowledgeable here read over the below, I really need advice on finding a doctor.

Here it goes:





==== [I POSTED THE BELOW] ====

About 7 months ago my jaw started popping when I woke up in the morning, though only the right side. Mostly it was a voluntary action that I had to do to make it pop, but it was so loud that you could hear it from the other room. It sounded like someone hitting a hollow wooden box with their knuckles, _hard_. Sometimes it would pop when I was eating too.

I mostly ignored the condition until it started getting painful. It eventually got painful to the degree that I couldn't chew anymore, so I went to see this guy: headaches.com

He put me on weekly sessions of heat and electro-stimulation physical therapy. That, thank goodness, made the pain go away. A few weeks later he also gave me a mouth piece of start wearing 24/7, called a "MORA". That made the popping go away pretty quick.

I'm still wearing the MORA for another month or two. Oddly though, the popping is now back! Though in a very different form.

Let me stress that, it's back, _but in a very different form_.

It now only pops when I move my jaw side-to-side, as opposed to before when it popped only upon an up-and-down motion. The current popping is quieter (silent almost), but my right jaw join is _definitely_ coming out of its socket when I move my jaw from left-to-right.

What's troubling about it is that when I do the motion some nerve gets hit. It feels like there's a nerve that's running from just below the ear, then somehow up "through the eardrum", and then up into the temple. When I do the left-right-motion I get an attack in that nerve that feels like I'm getting a shock of strong electricity all over the right side of my head. The "electric shock attack" lasts for about 5-6 seconds before the nerve quiets down. It's not particularly painful, but it feels very weird; and I know it's shouldn't be happening.

Fortunately the left-to-right motion that triggers all this is rather unnatural, and so it really won't happen unless I purposefully do it.

My current TMJ doctor thinks that I shouldn't worry about it, and he seems to be saying that the "dislocating" of the right jaw joint might never go away. But he says that if it's not causing me any significant discomfort then it's not worth treating.

I'm not sure what to do here. I don't like it. I don't want to jaw joint to be dislocating for the rest of my life.

A) It's weird
B) I'm afraid it will grow to cause problems down the line; things are out of place.

I'm not sure what to do. Should I go see someone else? If so, who?

I'm effectively in NYC, if that's of any relevance.

Many thanks for listening,
-Patrick

P.S. Not to mention, I also have tinnitus which was NOT fixed by the otherwise mostly successful TMJ treatment. Maybe it's because the dislocating wasn't resolved, and if the dislocating was completely fixed then maybe the tinnitus would go away? Then again... maybe it was the iPod set to MAX that caused the tinnitus. Mostly I'm just concerned about fixing the dislocating; the tinnitus is quiet enough that I can't hear it except when in bed (or when in a _very_ quiet room).






==== [USER "Jennifann" RESPONDED WITH THE BELOW] ====

have you had an MRI to see what type of damage is at the joint. This is very important. Mine is so damaged that only surgery will help the condition. I use to wear a splint 24/7 but that wasn't helping at all. The trigeminal nerve is very close to the TM joint so that is the nerve that is probably giving you the electric shocks. This can become a serious condition. Please look into getting an MRI if you have not had one.

Jennifer







==== [I RESPONDED WITH THE BELOW] ====
The current TMJ doctor is telling me that it's not worth it.

If anybody knows a doctor in NYC who will give me an MRI for that "electric shock" symptom then please do let me know!

I guess I'll start looking myself as well,
-Patrik