TMJ 'dysfunction' - Health implications

We shall however forge on.

The amazing improvements in the walking ability of 4 patients yesterday has NEVER been achieved by DMD's. I can safely say that in a majority of cases the so called "MS" is NOT an incurable illness.

IT IS, as I have always said for 12 years now, actually a disorder of the asymmetry of our bodily structure and almost completely curable in a majority of cases. The earlier the intervention the better.

I shall be publishing some more graphical representations of patient improvement in January 2013.

Have a great Xmas and may the new year bring a lot of happiness, security and actual healing and total disappearance of 'MS' in all those under my care.

Festive wishes to all and I second Dr Amir's hope for his patients.
Michele

I'm immensely grateful to all the wonderful people I've met this year in my pursuit of symmetry treatment, especially Dr Amir who has given me a better future and taken away my fear of MS. My hope is that we can help others who may have been misdiagnosed obtain the correct treatment and gain the improvements I have.

Merry Christmas!

See you next year everyone, happy holidays, Jen xxx

Here is a testimonial I just received from a patient who is well on the road to recovery from the 'depths' of "MS" incapacity. It may help some of you understand better and perhaps educate others who might still be uncertain about the roll of dental and Atlas asymmetries in the creation of the incapacities in "MS" patients. Her treatment has been challenging but we are nearly there:

"I am a 56 year old married mother of 4 grown up children and have been in a wheelchair for the last 7 years. I was diagnosed with MS 34 years ago when I was in the final year of a nursing degree course.
Contrary to medical advice at that time I finished the course and after a year as a Staff Nurse trained for a further year to become a midwife. I married and worked full time until I was pregnant with my first child. During this time I experienced 1 to 2 relapses per year of sensory nerve loss, such as pins and needles in my limbs, optic neuritis and other symptoms (which I assumed were ‘MS’ related but I now realise they were not).

When I was 19 years old I had my wisdom teeth removed under general anaesthetic. Following this, I dislocated my jaw (usually as a result of yawning) about 6 times over the next 4 years. This necessitated long painful stays in casualty departments while the relevant specialist was summoned. To avoid this happening when I was responsible for young children, I had surgical insertions of bilateral bone grafts into my temporo mandibular joints. With the benefit of hindsight although they did not solve the problem, they gave me a 10 year period of seemingly fairly inactive/non progressive MS. This is also perhaps an indication that the previous ‘relapsing remitting MS’ was actually caused by the loss of the wisdom teeth and the adverse effect this had on my jaw joint.

In 1984 when I was 28 years old, I stopped paid employment and started a family. At this stage few people (except close family and friends) were aware that I had MS. I was just an understandably tired mum of 4 young children born within 6 years of each other, leading a very busy, active life.

2 years after the last baby was born, the ‘MS’ returned with a vengeance. I was relapsing every 3 months. I seemed to be continually “ill” and started to experience motor nerve loss. My left side was becoming weaker; I walked with a limp etc… At the time the bone grafts in my jaw seemed to have worn out, as I started dislocating it again. A crash course for my husband in how to relocate the jaw was given by a very concerned dentist.

Having avoided any regular contact with neurologists until this last relapse, I decided that once my children were all in school full time, I would see a neurologist if something could be done for me.
I was desperate enough to try anything. I finished up on the co-paxone trial. For 18 months I gave myself daily injections. Every month I had an MRI scan. Every 3 months I had a full neurological examination by the neurologist. It was an experience not particularly enjoyable and definitely not beneficial in any way.

Through a work colleague of my husband’s, we were recommended to give an MS clinic in Essex a try. This opened the door to complementary medicine. Initially I was counselled and then food allergy tested. The results lead to numerous fairly strict elimination diets, expensive food supplements and for the first time in what seems like ages, I began to feel better.

16 years ago trying to obtain organic food was nearly impossible. I got fruit, vegetables and meat delivered and spent the rest of my time trailing round health food shops to obtain expensive gluten free, dairy free foods. Now I buy it all in the local supermarket.

Over the next 10 years, despite sticking to my healthy eating plan, my health continued to deteriorate and I became more physically disabled. After a nasty fall I reluctantly accepted that I was not coping and spent 2 weeks in the local cottage hospital. There I realised the best and safest ways to get around was in a wheelchair.

By 2009 I had been using a wheelchair for 6 years. I had had full time carers for that time and my physical capabilities were severely limited to just a normally functioning right hand and arm.
Throughout most of my time with MS I have always avoided prescription drugs. Those I did try I nearly always rejected because the side effects seemed a lot worse than the symptoms they alleviated. I used oxybutin to reduce bladder irritability from very early on and when it was available used detrusitol (which is the slow release form). Although frequently offered steroids to treat relapses, I always declined them. Apart from a disappointing 18 months Copaxone trial and 8 years using LDN (low dose naltrexone) I never found any need for prescription medicine. I willingly stopped the LDN later at Dr Amir’s request.

September 2009 was a big turning point. Lots seemed to be happening in the MS world. Stem cell therapy, for example. I tried to obtain a place on a research trial, but I did not fit the criteria as I could not walk. Then CCSVI began unfolding. Although I was prepared to pay for treatment, the practicalities of travelling long distances to get the treatment made it impossible.

One evening my husband was browsing the Internet and his attention was called by an article in the Evening Standard:

“Cure for MS with a dental brace”.
As everyone else who is Dr Amir’s patient says “and the rest is history”. It took me less than 48 hours to decide that the article needed further investigation. I had two things wrong with me, MS and a jaw that dislocated. Maybe going to a dentist was a step in the right direction. For me, from then on everything fell into place. Filling in the medical history in the extensive questionnaire that Dr Amir provides, made me see the connection between my long standing dental problems (I've had teeth extracted from age 8 to “make room in my small mouth”).

At my first appointment in Putney, I burst out crying when Dr. Amir scanned my medical and dental history and said the unforgettable words “you realise you don't have MS, you just have a problem with your teeth and jaws?”

At last somebody had worked out the connection between my teeth and the weird neurological signs and symptoms that are called "MS". It all made sense! Dr Amir explained as he fixed my teeth there was a possibility that once jaw alignment had been achieved my body would start to heal and the MS symptoms would disappear. So the treatment was initiated with my enthusiastic approval.

In October 2009 I had my “Atlas” done. A slightly uncomfortable massage with a machine and then a journey home in the car, when my body started to wake up. Within 24 hours I had regained sensation in my normally numb left leg. It was a weird yet wonderful sensation! It CANNOT have been due to "brain lesions".

There followed 3 years of regular appointments, a variety of braces both fixed and removable to address a lot of headaches, sleepless nights, sore teeth, dizziness and overwhelming tiredness. When I look back on it, for the last 3 years, whenever something went wrong with my health instead of blaming my ill health on MS, I could blame it on the brace! It seemed to have taken a long time. My breathing started to recover after some 18 months of treatment. It started to make a huge difference when my irritable bladder resolved (after 2 years).

In November 2012 I can confidently assert I am nearly there. I have been saying that for the last two years. My early problem with my dislocating jaw is virtually resolved, which tells me jaw symmetry is much better.

I realise now that the next stage is up to me. I need to relearn all the skills I lost when or because I had ‘MS’. It’s hard to know where to start, but I am surrounded by helpers and machines that will make it happen.

Thank you doctor Amir for giving me the chance to have a go. It's been a challenging 3 years for both of us, but it was worthwhile and the quality of my life has already improved immeasurably."

Merry Christmas and a very happy healthy, free of 'MS' 2013 for all current 'MSers' under my care.

Dear Doctor Amir,
Thank you so much for posting this 'challenging case' feed back, it encourages me to think that Ella will also be able to say this in future months. I saw her on Christmas eve and although she is in a good psychological place at the moment, she is very thin and that is worrying as she is so keen to put on weight. The feed back this lovely woman has sent you indicates that complicated cases do take time and I will have to be patient for perhaps another year to see how Ella responds.
Very happy New Year to you and all your patients too.
Michele

Michele
I am much more optimistic about Ella and I do not think we are going to have to wait that long to see some results.

I'm pleased to hear this, I do not ask Ella questions about her health, it stresses her.
Michele

As I start my sixth month of treatment, all of the improvements I have experienced since starting continue to hold. Every day I am thrilled by the absence of L'Hermitte's sign, previously a constant reminder of the progressive MS I was diagnosed with. I'm still free of pain, fatigue, numb patches and pins and needles. My walking problems are the only symptom of MS that remains, I am still held back by spasticity in my lower limbs and ankles. I have a strong feeling that my walking would improve immeasurably if the spasticity would ease. The few fleeting moments when I have walked without aid have been times where I have felt the stiffness suddenly melt away. In these moments, even before I attempt to stand, I can feel a weight lifting off my shoulders, my muscles feel soft and I know that I can get up and walk - a wonderful feeling, and one which I hope will happen more and more as treatment progresses!

On Christmas Day we went to my sister's house. I left my rollator outside the front door when I arrived and for the rest of the day I used only the walls and furniture for support. It was lovely to hear my Dad say that he can see I'm so near to walking again. It was a memorable day indeed.

I have been wearing a fixed brace on my upper jaw for a few weeks now. It has been nice to have a break from the removable braces. My teeth seem to have moved a lot and I have gaps opening up all over the place. My hubby has started calling me Dwane after the bucktoothed character from Red Dwarf!

I continue to do my exercises Dr Amir has asked me to do.
I see Dr Amir every couple of weeks and he makes the necessary adjustments to my brace. I always feel better when I walk out the surgery than when I walked in. The tiniest adjustment to the appliance can make a huge difference so it is important to monitor how you feel and go 'back for a tweak' if you start to feel unwell.

All in all, I am feeling very well. I still have a long way to go as far as jaw symmetry goes, only 20% done apparently, but I am already reaping the benefits of a straight atlas and pelvis which have spontaneously corrected themselves in response to jaw treatment. I'm very happy with how treatment is going, and contrary to comments about it being prohibitively expensive, costs no more than the 20-a-day smoking habit I had before giving up in March! (I'm not saying Dr Amir should put his prices up, just rationalising ;-D)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope its a healthy and joyful 2013 for you, Jen xx

Jenny, this is excellent news and what a clever way of being able to afford the treatment easily, a double positive whammy for your well being. It is great to hear of your progress and I do hope that it continues so that you will eventually have soft muscles all the time.
Happy New Year.
Michele

It's been a while since I posted an update. I'm now 9 months into treatment and my upper fixed brace has been removed. I did feel a worsening of my balance and energy levels during the time that my front teeth were wired together but I was told that it was necessary, and only temporary so I didn't panic when my walking got quite bad again. To my relief, my next appointment with Dr Amir resulted in the teeth being untied and a brief return to my adjustable brace which improved things immediately.

I also did a two week period of using only my exercise brace three times a day, and nothing else. Dr Amir warned that I may get a reccurrence of old symptoms and sure enough, I began to feel the pain of 'optic neuritis' with blurred vision and visual disturbances. It felt exactly like my earliest 'MS' symptom and one which is blamed on inflammation and conventionally treated with steroids. I can now connect it with my jaw asymmetries because I am now back to wearing adjustable upper and lower braces and I fully expect the eye symptoms will resolve....watch this space

My walking has stabilised although I still need a rollator. I have been standing up more and more to get used to 'life up there' again. I can now stand unsupported for five minutes and rock my weight from one leg to the other. Its starting to feel comfortable and natural on my feet; so-much-so, it feels like I could just stroll around the room. But when I try, I can't. Its coming though....slowly slowly catchy monkey....I can do so much more than I could before and for that I am eternally grateful