Medical stuff, not particularly TMI
I wasn't sure what to think when Columbus' residential expert in TMJ treatment leaned back with a quizzical look and said something along the lines of "Your situation is really unusual."
This morning I finally went in to see a professional specifically about my TMJ issues - thereby escaping the loop of medicals mumbling about me bringing up TMJ issues to my dentist, and the dentals grumbling about how that's not their field and maybe I should talk to the medicals about it instead. I had a huge batch of paperwork they'd sent me with forms where I described every detail of the problems: jaw popping and crunching, range of motion issues, jaw locking, related pain, etc. When I went in I got a panoramic x-ray (which I asked them to submit to my insurance, as it's the only thing that even vaguely might be paid for by them, everything else is out of pocket) and the doc came in and measured my jaw in a variety of different ways. The official diagnosis is a dislocated cartilage disc on the left side. He also reshaped my bite splint, which was apparently forcing my jaw backwards and therefore making it actually worse, and recommended a ridiculously high dose of glucosamine chondroitin (which I already take on days when it's particularly bothersome). Then, next week, a tomogram x-ray detailing the TMJ joints in various positions to see exactly how the joint is catching and locking (which I hope I can convince the medical insurance to cover), and further recommendations. I do like that he didn't immediately say "Hey, guess what, you've had this for so long that you need a joint replacement!"
Part of why we can try some less extreme ways of fixing this (and part of what seemed to confuse the hell out of him) is that I'm not in incredible pain. He said that almost everyone whose TMJ is in the particular condition that mine is are in debilitating, disabling pain and usually on narcotics. I explained that normally I don't have any pain unless I've been talking all day (such as when I did a HPB workshop in Cleveland a couple of months back) or if I have a particularly stressful day and end up with what feels similar to a sinus headache. For the most part the major annoyance about my TMJ is the locking and popping/crunching sounds when I move my jaw. He said I was very lucky that I don't have constant pain as well, and this is a good sign that perhaps my TMJ will be treatable with splints and supplements.
Amusingly, it felt like half my visit consisted of the doc and his various assistants gushing about how much they loved HPB. I said that I usually liked working for them, but their crappy insurance through United HealthCare meant that I was sitting in his chair without coverage. We bitched for awhile about how any other joint in the body would have been covered - arthritis, slipped disc in the back, whatever - without any hassle. But apparently the insurance company doesn't make enough money treating TMJ stuff, so of course that is the joint that's excepted from both medical and dental insurance.
It was an expensive visit, and there will be a lot more expense to come, but I feel really good knowing that I am on the track to improvement, and confident that I finally have a competent doctor who actually has a clue about what to do for a screwed up TMJ!