Injection wore off already in ARCHIVES Forum

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Injection wore off already

Author	Comment
vanny1961	Injection wore off already	Lead	[-]
Posts: 343 (05/26/05 17:23:08) Member I Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Remove this ad The anesthetic/steroid injection I got last Wednesday seems to have worn off already. The OS thought it would last about two weeks. My left joint has continued to ache over the week, and I've had earaches, but last night about sent me over the top. Both ears aching like crazy, terrible headache, and neck pain. I still don't understand why my ears would be so painful when there isn't much pain in front of my ears, over the joints themselves. My aching has always seemed to be "deep" inside the joint. Does that make any sense? I called the OS first thing this morning, his nurse called me back shortly after noon to get more information and she was going to talk to him and someone was to get back to me. One of the questions she asked was if it helped at all, and I'm sure it did - it just didn't last. It is now 5:17 and no call back. I tried to stay off the phone (at work) as much as possible, but I am a claims rep that works from the desk - I'm on the phone a lot. It concerns me that he said if the injection didn't work he felt my pain would be coming from somewhere other than the joint - and now that the injection didn't last, will he decide it isn't joint pain. I don't know what else could be causing it. I know that cervical issues can cause referred pain, but I've never heard of it affecting the ears like this. I have been using heat several times a day, and spent a good deal of the afternoon with the bed buddy on my neck and alternating between one tmj and the other. It is hard to type holding a heat pack to your face. Pretty non-productive, but at least I was there I guess. Any thoughts? Karen
Cymy Sue	Re: Injection wore off already	#1	[-]
Posts: 7276 (05/27/05 04:02:08) Senior Member * Moderator * Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Karen, Just because it didn't last the 2 weeks he thought it would, may not mean he will think the pain is not from the joint. I think 2 weeks would be an "average" time and everyone responds differently. I'm sure everything has changed a lot since I was offered steroids and had the anesthetic injection for the same purpose you did. I was told (way back when) sometimes or for some people, the steroids didn't help that much or last very long. I declined having that done due to not knowing if it would help very much or not. The anesthetic I had to determine if the joint was the origin of the pain, only lasted about 12 hours. I understand your dismay. Nobody wants the joint to be bad, but you get this stuff done and if it doesn't seem to turn out the way the OS said or you thought it would, it's back to "not knowing." If you got any relief at all, it is possible the joint is the problem. That's what they told me, I got "some" relief and it was a joint problem. Like I said I did not have steroids in my TMJ. I did in my shoulder joint over the last couple of years, a few times. They do the same thing basically for some pain relief. An anesthetic for short term pain relief and a steroid that kicks in a day or so later. The first couple helped. As my shoulder got worse, those injections did not help at all. I had a bad shoulder problem & we already knew that. I just thought I would mention that to let you know, sometimes these injections don't seem to work as they should and I'm not sure they're absolutely reliable as a diagnostic on the TMJ's. One surgeon I saw thought it was absolutely necessary regarding surgery. One I saw, said it was useless. He deteremined joint problems from Imaging and History. I hope it's not your joint. I know you feel lost again about what it could be. I've had the deep ear pain and joint pain. It didn't come from my neck or anywhere else. It originated from the joint due to dysfunction. I know it's not any consolation, but my ears use to hurt so bad....sometimes the earache was much worse than the other pain. The joint and ear are so close together, any problem with function, even minor, normally will cause ear pain. Try to not think the worst. Your OS may interpret how you responded completely different than you think and maybe there will be some answers for you. I hope so. Cymy Sue
buffyjo	Re: Injection wore off already	#2	[-]
Posts: 681 (05/27/05 07:13:41) Senior Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi Karen I have had the injection several times with the same results after that we switched to oral steroids and with them SAME thing as soon as my dose pack was gone i was feeling bad again we went back ad forth with these for 6 months It was horrible i was a mess and am still recovering for all those steroids Anyway my Dr never Once said because it didn't last that my pain was not from the joint. Take care Buffy
desertdweller7	Re: Injection wore off already	#3	[-]
Posts: 223 (05/27/05 15:50:59) Member I Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've had numerous types of injections in the joint in the past and I have always thought that if you had any time of relief, it probably WAS the joint. In your case, I hope it is not the joint and just a muscle problem. Mine is with the joint and I'm a mess with terrible joint pain and muscle/tension headaches. I've had four surgical opinions and trying to decide what to do. I used to have terrible ear pain. Alot of it cleared up when I started allergy injections 2 years ago. Do you have any allergy or sinus problems? It took about six months before they started helping. I still had some ear pain and it was attributed to the TMJ. There are ALOT of nerves that sit on the TMJ's and can cause ear pain. My doctors put me on Neurontin and I do believe it helped with the ear pain. Please don't let them do anymore steriod injections on the joint. My doctor won't do more than 2 in a lifetime. Plus, if it only helped for two weeks it's not worth it. The steriod eats away at the bone if you have too many. Those of us with TMJ problems don't need any more problems with our condolyes. See if your doctor can do a AURICULO TEMPORAL NERVE BLOCK on the bad side. Mine just did that and it numbed the pain in the joint and my headache and he said it is a sure sign of joint, not muscle. Julie
vanny1961	Injection	#4	[-]
Posts: 343 (05/27/05 17:41:19) Member I Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I just now (5:30 on Friday) talked to the oral surgeons office and the nurse said they were going to send me to a clinic in a larger city where I have already been seen. I went there for 6-7 months and was offered PT, visits with psych for biofeedback, and visits with a NP for discussing "things in my bucket" - habits I need to change - posture, caffiene, sleep, nutrition, regular exercise, etc. etc. etc. There were about 20 things they gave me. They never offered pain medications and after 6-7 months of travelling 235 miles each way, and getting no relief. I came home and was going to try to live with it. Now this doctor was going to send me back there. Or he says I can live with it, or try arthrocentesis or joint surgery. I guess I will set up for the arthrocentesis. He hasn't addressed the pain in the left joint despite my ongoing complaints. They are off all of next week in his office. My daughter is scheduled for wisdom teeth removal with him the week of June 15th, so I will have to try to get it in before or after that. I have two lortabs left from my walk-in visit on the 6th, and wonder if I will be able to hold out for ten days with nothing. We know the right joint is bad. The disc is displaced without reduction, and there is remodeling of the condyle. There is no appreciable translation in the joint. I think the malfunction in the right joint is causing the left to operate in a way that is causing pain/problems over there. I don't always have noise in the left, but the pain is constant now, and recently it been clicking/popping more frequently. Karen
am6845	Re: Injection	#5	[-]
Posts: 353 (05/27/05 19:46:36) Member I Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	You know what is weird a lot of us its our Left side that is the worse. From What I have read. I am making me a Dr's apt on Monday and trying to get in asap I cant live with this pain any longer and the pain meds I have is not even touching it. I have to make an apt with my primary care Dr first and try to get him to order an MRI and also try to get him to get me a referral. This is the only way. As we live paycheck to paycheck I don't have a lot of money to be paying out of pocket so I have to go by way of insurance. It really sucks though because I have talked to my Dr about his before and the ins company's are acting like Dr's and denying medically necessary drugs and treatment even though the Dr's are telling them it is needed. Angi

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