TMJ 'dysfunction' - Health implications

My son had bowel problems since he was very young. Over 5 years, I saw many doctors, the path was very long and tortuous until he was finally diagnosed with Crohn's disease. We were told that you can't cure Crohn's disease. You can control it but not cure it.

He started a long and heavy drug treatment with the doctors which had no effect on his symptoms.

Then we met doctor Amir, who said that the diagnosis of Crohn's disease was perhaps a bit far fetched. He suggested that my son needed treatment to correct his jaws and align his teeth and that if we corrected what is going on in his mouth, he will just be fine. It was clear that he needed alignment, but I thought this could wait until his health was sorted. I never imagined this was in fact affecting his whole health. So I decided to trust Dr. Amir although I must say I was quite sceptical. But I said to myself: "if this does not help him with the Crohn's disease, it should at least give him a nice smile".

He started getting better and after a year, the Crohn's disease was gone and his symptoms disappeared. Life is so far from what it was 12 months earlier, it was amazing.

Our son may have been misdiagnosed, I will never know. What I know is that since we started treatment with Dr. Amir, my son's life became normal. He is now 11, he is doing great, no more doctors, no more therapies, no more treatments, no permanent worries for mum. And he has a beautiful smile!

Looking back at previous records of other patients treated for similar symptoms I recall a case where a patient aged 38 presented with serious bowel problems. She had retired from her regular job due to knee pains and swellings. Until then she was an active sports person. She had to give up sports. IBS followed soon afterwards. She fell pregnant and her backache got worse. Soon after birth of her son she woke up to find that she had lost all bowel control.

After numerous consultations the surgeons recommended that she have surgery on the anal sphincter because it had “ruptured” during birth. This was duly performed and the symptoms worsened. She also lost all feeling. Two months on she was advised to have a colostomy bag.

On examination at my office she was found to have a neck, lower spine and hip distortions emanating from an incorrect jaw joint which was causing diaphragmatic dysfunction, while the lower spine distortion was probably affecting the nerve supply to the puborectal muscle sling which controls the excretory process. An appropriate correcting appliance was fitted in her mouth.

The patient was able to play with her children 2 days later in the park for the first time in 5 years.

I hypothesise that light exercise kept the IBS at bay until her knees gave way. Stoppage of the exercise resulted in an increase in the inevitable symptomatology of diaphragmatic dysfunction. The back ache usually gets worse during pregnancy and, I hypothesise that, during the birth process, the spine must have locked in an aberrant position causing some nerve fibres to the puborectal muscle to stop functioning. The dental appliance brought about immediate spinal symmetry and hence the resolution of her symptoms.
The rationale for the anal sphincter surgery is beyond me!