Hi Everyone and welcome or welcome back to my YouTube channel! My name is Priya Mistry and
I'm the TMJ doc! Today's video is about Trigeminal Neuralgia, or TN, and Temporomandibular Disorder,
also called TMD. Have you been diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia? Are you suffering with
constant daily pain? Have you been put on strong medications with significant side effects to
help manage this? Well I'm here to tell you that there may be another way to get relief.
If you watch this video until the end, you will learn about Trigeminal Neuralgia and how it may
actually be unrecognized, and therefore untreated, Temporomandibular Disorder. For those of you who
don't know me, I'm a General Dentist in Portland, Oregon with a practice dedicated to taking care of
patients with TMJ disorders. Please check out my Instagram handle when you have some time!
I'll also be hosting a giveaway soon so please be on the lookout for that! So let's get right into
it! Temporomandibular Disorder, or TMD, recognizes that there's a group of muscles that work together
to guide and support the jaw. If or when these muscles become dysfunctional - usually due to
chronic clenching, chronic grinding, sometimes simply even the way the teeth fit together,
or postural imbalances throughout the body - it can lead to a variety of symptoms.
Because the symptoms are so vast and so varied, TMD is often called the great imposter disease
and it can mimic Trigeminal Neuralgia. Let's take a moment to break down the symptoms of Trigeminal
Neuralgia. These symptoms include episodes of sharp stabbing pain through the cheek or the jaw
that feel like an electric shock. These episodes of pain can be triggered by anything touching
the face or the cheek or the jaw - including shaving, brushing your teeth, a light breeze,
talking, chewing, etc. It can be incredibly painful and the people that have gone through this
or have been diagnosed with it, you know what I'm talking about! A flare-up of Trigeminal Neuralgia
usually begins with tingling or sort of numbness in the face. Pain occurs in intermittent bursts
and can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes and goes on and on and on like
that, until it becomes practically continuous. There are papers that cite that a peripheral
entrapment of the Trigeminal Nerve can cause Trigeminal Neuralgia. It can cause compression
on the nerve itself and then cause the Trigeminal Neuralgia. The traditional theory behind the cause
of Trigeminal Neuralgia is that the Trigeminal Nerve itself is being compressed by a nearby
blood vessel. With Temporomandibular Disorder, the muscles in the head, neck, and jaw become
so dysfunctional; and when that happens, they become edematous. They become swollen
and we believe that that swelling can actually cause the compression on the Trigeminal Nerve.
This then, of course, would produce the same symptoms as Trigeminal Neuralgia. We recently
treated a patient who had been diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia. She came to our office
holding, just cradling her face in so much pain.. particularly on her left side - I remember that.
We treated her with orthotics and myofascial release - so I have videos on "what is an
orthotic versus a dental nightguard" and "what is myofascial release" so please watch these
videos as there's a lot of information in them. We were able to get her relief within two to three
months and she is currently tapering off of her Gabapentin. She is thrilled with the results and
she has graciously offered to do a testimonial for me which I'm hoping to film very soon; it's kind
of hard during Covid times so once I can do that, I will get that up on my YouTube channel as well.
With our orthotics and myofascial release, we were able to get her muscles
calmed down and less swollen thereby taking the pressure off the Trigeminal Nerve
and giving it a chance to breathe, I suppose. But it's not being compressed anymore essentially
and that got rid of her symptoms. So to summarize, I'm not saying that all Trigeminal Neuralgia cases
are because of Temporomandibular Disorder, but I truly believe that some can be and if they are,
there is help! If you liked what you heard if you learned something, click "Like" below, SUBSCRIBE
to my channel. As always, ask questions/comment in the comment box below. I always answer all my
questions. I'm here to help, I'm happy to do so.. and remember you can never have TMI about TMJ!