TMJ

From The Past: January 18, 2007

Ashley has had tubes in her ears for almost three years now. The purpose of the tube is to drain the virus from her ear when she gets an ear infection. This has happened a few times, but more often than not, there is no drainage.

When she complains of an ear infection, I take her to the doctor. They diagnose an ear infection and put her on medicine for ten days. The last two times I have taken her though, they still said she had an infection and they still put her on medicine, but they also suggested I take her back to the ear doctor who put the tubes in to begin with. So, that is exactly what I did yesterday.

He said her tubes look fine and they are right in place where they should be. He asked me how much gum she chews, to which I answered, “A lot.”

Ashley requested gum for Christmas from everyone, so she got a lot. I know we put a ton in her stocking and my parents bought her a huge tub of the stuff. Naturally, she has been chewing one-piece right after the other in total bliss.

He said he thinks she has a problem with her TMJ – Temporo-Mandibular Joint. He said when she chews a piece of gum, her joint is moving about 500 times. This joint becomes swollen and since it is so close to the ear, it makes the ear look red, therefore looking like an ear infection.

The TMJ website says,

A very common focus of pain is in the ear. Many patients come to the ear specialist quite convinced their pain is from an ear infection. When the earache is not associated with a hearing loss and the eardrum looks normal, the doctor will consider the possibility that the pain comes from a TMJ dysfunction.”

His advice was to stop chewing gum. He said the next time she thinks she has an ear infection; he wants to see her. He wants to make sure it’s really not an infection, but TMJ. If her ear is not infected, he said he would probably take the tubes out because they had been in three years.

It’s odd because Ashley has been taking Zyrtec for a year now because she has frequent headaches. Another symptom of TMJ is headaches! So, maybe her doctor is on to something and we can kill two birds with no gum. Wouldn’t that be nice?

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