TMJ 'dysfunction' - Health implications

Written by my patient Pauline Bresnik-Snasdell

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Background

Today is 28 March 2019 and I am a 53 year-old female from the USA living in London these past 18 years. I’m a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant with an MBA, and a long career as a global senior manager at a Big4 accounting firm. I started my career as an auditor for the first 8 years, progressing upward from there. I mention this background to highlight that it is my nature and trained approach to choose my words carefully and maintain a healthy skepticism, and I hope you will read my Multiple Sclerosis (MS) story bearing this in mind.

Medical background

I was diagnosed with MS at the age of 28 via MRI scans, spinal fluid analysis and observable conditions. I immediately performed research on my best options for health and then began the Dr. Roy Swank diet amongst other approaches. I experienced results similar to those that Dr. Swank observed in his 33-year study relevant to the neurological grade at which I started the diet (Swank and Dugan 72-73). My main complaints years before the diagnosis of MS at the age of 28 included headaches, clicking jaw, crowded mouth leading to the removal of all 4 wisdom teeth, ‘concrete-like jaw, daily headaches, and migraines. My main intermittent complaints leading directly up to and after my MS diagnosis included Lhermitte’s sign, numbness on the face, loss of sight in one eye, spasticity, general limb weakness, dizziness, impacts to my cognitive function, severe fatigue, the gradual decline of my sense of balance, and a host of other issues too numerous to mention that continued on and off for 15 years.

My MS Management Before Dr. Amir

Things that helped me manage my symptoms before starting Dr. Amir’s treatment (Dr. Amir, Dental Surgeon, London, UK) included the following:
- The Swank Diet as mentioned above – seemed to slow the progression of MS
- Elimination of dairy from my diet – this greatly helped lessen my frequency of headaches
- Inclined Bed Therapy
- Free form amino acids capsules – this seemed to help my energy levels
- Mercury fillings removals – this seemed to reduce the number of symptoms
- Acupuncture (a medical doctor from China who also practices acupuncture)
- Stress reduction

A Word on Drugs

I was told of my diagnosis by a well-respected neurologist in California. He had an open mind and presented me with a number of different options. Very soon after my diagnosis, I read everything I could find on the subject and concluded that a drug approach would not be for me. It was explained to me that the drugs available at the time could only offer a reduction in the number of exacerbations and may cause me to experience a number of unpleasant side effects. My gut reaction was that I would have a better chance of dealing with MS ‘naturally.’

My Amir Experience

When I was 43, my husband brought home the Evening Standard write-up on Dr. Amir and I went to see him. What he said made sense to me and I started his treatment. Within a few weeks, I was feeling much less fatigued and physically stronger. I experienced an ability to breathe more deeply than I’d ever been able to. This was the most noticeable difference. It was my husband, however, who pointed out, several months into the treatment, that I hadn’t complained about any MS issues for a while and we realized together I hadn’t had any evidence of MS since starting treatment with Dr. Amir.

It has now been over three years since I’ve experienced any MS symptoms, save one, explained below. I’ve gone beyond simply the state of not experiencing MS. I can breathe to double capacity, have more energy, rarely experience a headache, can eat dairy! and chocolate, have a more attractive jaw-line and more prominent cheekbones.

My Watershed Moment

There was one symptom that came back and I’m so grateful it did. One of the first symptoms I experienced when I was 28 that prompted me to seek medical attention was Lhermitte’s sign, i.e., when I bent my head forward I felt tingling all down my back and the back of my legs. In September 2012, nearly 3 years since I’d had any exacerbations or any signs of having MS at all, my Lhermitte’s ‘scar’ reappeared during a particularly stressful time and I felt deflated.

I made an appointment with Dr. Amir, and he made a new brace for me while I waited. Just before retiring that night, I felt the Lhermitte’s ‘scar’ and it reminded me to use the new brace for the instructed two minutes. Afterward, I bent my head and the Lhermitte’s sign had completely disappeared and remained so. My ‘scar’ had healed in two minutes flat. As it sank in and I considered all I had thought about MS in light of this new ‘evidence’, I actually started to cry, a rare occurrence, because I knew at that moment that 22 years of fear, and hope, and of being careful; and my mother’s tears of fear for my potential bed-ridden life had been unnecessary. My jaw had needed to be realigned; I hadn’t had multiple sclerosis.

I felt relief and then anger and then gratefulness - gratefulness that I had had the fortune to cross paths with Dr. Amir, a new thinker, who has changed my life experience.

Message to Medical Professionals

I have had the fortune to be advised by some of the brightest medical practitioners around the world and I now hope they will allow their natural sense of curiosity to explore this surprising experience. It would have been wonderful to avoid those years of uncertainty. Those years, however, have made me who I am today, so it’s not so much a feeling of regret as one of anticipation. I am expecting great things from the medical profession in the future.

From a business perspective, it seems to be a very attractive proposition; except, obviously, to those in the business of managing symptoms. I see other applications for Dr. Amir’s approach, beyond the avoidance of sickness, involving athletes and raising their performance. The physical strength and performance improvement I’ve experienced during my treatment, having been a weight lifter and competitive Irish dancer in my younger days, would definitely interest any athletes looking for an advantage.

Postscript:

I have hesitated to write my story, mostly because I have kept my diagnosis secret for so long, but something happened, however, over the 2013 Christmas break that made me change my mind. With conflicting holiday schedules and extensive travel plans, I went 4 weeks without wearing a brace. I experienced a number of issues mostly related to my neck, head, face, and eyes that couldn’t be relieved with pain medicine. When I, completely exhausted, finally managed to see Dr. Amir after the holidays, it was within 10 minutes of wearing my new brace that everything cleared and it was dramatic. This story needs to be told now.

I have been symptom-free for the past 10 years, except for when I need an adjustment to my brace. Dr. Amir’s wisdom should be shouted from the rooftops. Why is no one curious? WHY is no medical provider curious about my story, and the story of so many like me experiencing these dramatic changes due to adjustments to the jaw? Why?

It terrifies me and breaks my heart to think that this wisdom is not being embraced by others and taken out to the world. Who will save the next generation from medical professionals who are not curious, who are not learning, whose minds are made up, and who do not fix the problem? Drugs are not the answer, and only when the doctor himself is diagnosed can he understand the panic, the terror, the willingness to do ANYTHING to be well. The option to see someone like Dr. Amir MUST remain my right as a person, and a patient.

Whoever seeks to return me, and others like me, to ill health, must prepare themselves for a fight that will last until the moment we draw our last breath. No one fights harder, and with more ferocity than someone who is fighting for her life.

Reference: Swank M.D. PhD, R. L. & Dugan, B. B (1987).The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book.DoubleDay: New York

Here is my Google Review
Stars

10 years later - I credit Dr. Amir with my life.

Finally, after a 19-year journey to a symptom-free life, Dr. Amir was the final answer to my quest to be free from MS. It's all about oxygen and alignment, and Dr. Amir is the artist /engineer/scientist/ dental surgeon that is setting the standard. He doesn't give up! It was only 3 months into my treatment when I noticed some profound changes. My MS was considered relapsing-remitting but my balance had been getting progressively worse. All that changed when I met Dr. Amir and I haven't had an MS symptom for 10 years. I've returned to my original strength. I wear his device at night and that keeps me in tip-top shape. Thank you for giving me back my life Dr. Amir!

PS: Taking a stand against the existing paradigm of dental and medical care has turned out to be very costly. My website has highlighted practices of those who knowingly or unknowingly perpetuate illness. This is obviously not acceptable to the power structure in control of our health. To continue to produce evidentiary articles on my website and this forum - which have enlightened thousands of dentists and patients all around the world, to keep my staff employed and my offices viable, we request a little help.
You may donate through a window that comes up at Mr M. Amir. (Please note I am in the process of revising that website.)

Please remember there are at least 48 illnesses where millions of patients can be helped through dental interventions.

The improvement or benefits identified in the testimonials and articles on this site are based on individual experiences which are dependent upon the patient’s unique health condition, jaw condition, occlusal position, medical history, and other individualised factors, and should not be considered representative of all treatment outcomes. .