loudc
Newcomer
It's been a couple of weeks since I finished reading all Sarno's books but it has taken me a long time to follow a plan of treatment or even get in touch with whatever is going on with me. I have found that ignoring my symptoms work better than obsessing about them but they are still around and I know I need to deal with them sooner or later, so today I started the treatment plan here.
However, there is one thing that is keeping me from moving foward. I'm a TMJ sufferer and unfortunately I haven't found much information on Dr. Sarno's book about it (Healing back pain) or anyone with a similar situation as mine.
So, first a little about me: I am the classic definition of Sarno's type of patient: self critic, ambitious, hardworking, I put a LOT of pressure on myself and feel guilty when I can't correspond my own expectations or other people's, people pleaser etc. I also hold a lot of emotional anger from my chidlhood especially concerning family, friends and the place I grew up. The thing is, I'm conscious of all of those things and have always been. I have been going to therapy for about a year as well.
My symptoms started at the age of 19 while I as going through a very stressful period. I started grinding my teeth at night and getting neck pain which became chronic for the following years. I could still live a normal life despite the neck pain, but after I graduated from university when I was 23 I was unhappy with my professional and financial life and my symptoms started to get worse. I started getting TMJ symptoms (ear pressure, tinnitus, more neck and shoulder pain, tendinitis - I worked in a computer all day - headaches).
I looked for help (physiotherapy, pills, alternative treatments) but it was all temporary. I started to look for proper help, but all dentists would tell me different things: they all agreed it was TMJ but their treatments were so different from one another that my mind went crazy. No need to say the anxiety inscreased my symptoms. Some dentists said I needed orthognatic surgery, others 4 years of splint and braces, others 2 years of splint and braces, others a mouthguarg, I tried every possible alternative treatment as well (craniosacral, all types of physio, alexander technique, therapy etc).
I then found some information on FB about craniofacial disorders caused by teeth extraction in orthodontics (I used braces for +3 years as a teen and had teeth extracted due to lack of space in my mouth). This causes the reduction of the airway and makes the jaw trapped what hurts the tmjs and fucks up your posture (I have the beginning of reverse neck curve and my jaw is indeed retruted and deviated to one side). There were hundreds of people in this situation with the same symptoms as me and they were all struggling to find a permanent cure. They involve appliances, tongue posture, breathing, splints etc, all kinds of treatments.
It was my case there, and I got convinced I had to reopen the extraction spaces was the only way to fix me. But I live in a place with limited options and couldnt find a dentist to do that. I found a dentist, however, that agreed on the above diagnosis (rare) and started treatment with functional appliances (though not the one I believed I needed). I must say here that when finding out about TMJ I was extremely frustrated with my professional life, my dad was pressuring me to make money (I wasn't affording myself and felt guilty all the time), my group of friends was falling apart, and I was planning on moving abroad with my boyfriend in a few months and most treatments took years so I panicked completely because it was getting in the way of my life. It's been 9 months since I started to wear the appliances but it's been ups and downs, where the downs are very low and the ups are not very high.
That's when I read Sarno's books and I started to feel some changes right after. My neck pain reduced about 50%-70% but I started getting a lot of anxiety and some other anxiety-related symptoms. I told my dentist about TMS and even thoguh he doesnt belive 100% in it he let me use my appliance only to sleep and when I"m home intead of 24/7. I also told my phisiotherapis about who I used to see once a week to reduce the time going there. My own father is a phisiotherapist and I still haven't been able to talk to him about any of this, he doesn't believe psychology can cause all of this.
I've had other times of my life when I had health issues that now I realize were cause by emotions. None of them became chronic though. I can't be sure though, due to lack of information in the subject about TMJ and reversed neck curve. How can I be sure to proceed with treatment? Do you know anyone with a similar story?
However, there is one thing that is keeping me from moving foward. I'm a TMJ sufferer and unfortunately I haven't found much information on Dr. Sarno's book about it (Healing back pain) or anyone with a similar situation as mine.
So, first a little about me: I am the classic definition of Sarno's type of patient: self critic, ambitious, hardworking, I put a LOT of pressure on myself and feel guilty when I can't correspond my own expectations or other people's, people pleaser etc. I also hold a lot of emotional anger from my chidlhood especially concerning family, friends and the place I grew up. The thing is, I'm conscious of all of those things and have always been. I have been going to therapy for about a year as well.
My symptoms started at the age of 19 while I as going through a very stressful period. I started grinding my teeth at night and getting neck pain which became chronic for the following years. I could still live a normal life despite the neck pain, but after I graduated from university when I was 23 I was unhappy with my professional and financial life and my symptoms started to get worse. I started getting TMJ symptoms (ear pressure, tinnitus, more neck and shoulder pain, tendinitis - I worked in a computer all day - headaches).
I looked for help (physiotherapy, pills, alternative treatments) but it was all temporary. I started to look for proper help, but all dentists would tell me different things: they all agreed it was TMJ but their treatments were so different from one another that my mind went crazy. No need to say the anxiety inscreased my symptoms. Some dentists said I needed orthognatic surgery, others 4 years of splint and braces, others 2 years of splint and braces, others a mouthguarg, I tried every possible alternative treatment as well (craniosacral, all types of physio, alexander technique, therapy etc).
I then found some information on FB about craniofacial disorders caused by teeth extraction in orthodontics (I used braces for +3 years as a teen and had teeth extracted due to lack of space in my mouth). This causes the reduction of the airway and makes the jaw trapped what hurts the tmjs and fucks up your posture (I have the beginning of reverse neck curve and my jaw is indeed retruted and deviated to one side). There were hundreds of people in this situation with the same symptoms as me and they were all struggling to find a permanent cure. They involve appliances, tongue posture, breathing, splints etc, all kinds of treatments.
It was my case there, and I got convinced I had to reopen the extraction spaces was the only way to fix me. But I live in a place with limited options and couldnt find a dentist to do that. I found a dentist, however, that agreed on the above diagnosis (rare) and started treatment with functional appliances (though not the one I believed I needed). I must say here that when finding out about TMJ I was extremely frustrated with my professional life, my dad was pressuring me to make money (I wasn't affording myself and felt guilty all the time), my group of friends was falling apart, and I was planning on moving abroad with my boyfriend in a few months and most treatments took years so I panicked completely because it was getting in the way of my life. It's been 9 months since I started to wear the appliances but it's been ups and downs, where the downs are very low and the ups are not very high.
That's when I read Sarno's books and I started to feel some changes right after. My neck pain reduced about 50%-70% but I started getting a lot of anxiety and some other anxiety-related symptoms. I told my dentist about TMS and even thoguh he doesnt belive 100% in it he let me use my appliance only to sleep and when I"m home intead of 24/7. I also told my phisiotherapis about who I used to see once a week to reduce the time going there. My own father is a phisiotherapist and I still haven't been able to talk to him about any of this, he doesn't believe psychology can cause all of this.
I've had other times of my life when I had health issues that now I realize were cause by emotions. None of them became chronic though. I can't be sure though, due to lack of information in the subject about TMJ and reversed neck curve. How can I be sure to proceed with treatment? Do you know anyone with a similar story?
