TMJ injuries, experience please.

cptrayes

cptrayes

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Oh blimey, never rains but it pours.

I got my boy through kissing spines and he was going sweetly after his operation. Then I upset his gut badly with acidic haylage and finally got that right and he was working sweetly again. Then he fractured his eye socket in the barn overnight, and however he managed to do that, it also looks likely that he has given himself a TMJ injury.

Can I have your experiences and treatment of TMJ injuries please, as this is a total new one on me. Did your horse recover, and if so in what timescale? What were the symptoms, and did they all disappear?

I'm cooking a curry if anyone wants a share?
 
Gosh, hes having a hard time isn't he?
A friend of mine had a tb that had tmj problems, although I don't know if it was from an injury or was always present, and getting worse with time.
He began head shaking badly, and was always prone to rearing ( without any self preservation ). He was very on the forehand, and developed quite a strange looking muscle development.
He had some quite extensive work done by a EDT, which helped . but didn't cure him. ( he was quite elderly by the time he got attended to )

Just off the top of my head, I would think that a lot of a successful treatment would need to be soft tissue work, massage or acupuncture, as there are some powerful muscles holding and moving the jaw on a horse, that would be in spasm? and holding the jaw in a misalignment?
Kx
 
I have no experience of this at all, but he is holding his jaw about an eighth of an inch off to the side where he broke his eye socket (tiny bone shards came out of it!!!) And also a tiny little bit overshot. And squishing his tongue out between his teeth, all spot on for TMJ issues. I'm going to talk to the vet today but acupuncture seems to be recommended. I have no idea where to find one.

I looked up the anatomy, and the connection of the jaw to the head is very close to the top of the eye socket where he broke it. That's all fixed, but he will not tolerate any kind of attempt to ask him to round up. We were doing so well, too :(

On the bright side, he did head shake for a couple of days but he has stopped that, and there is no resistance to flexing his neck/poll that I can find.

Any more info, good or bad, very much appreciated folks.
 
Is he quidding eating haylage? Darkwater on here (i think its Darkwater) has a pony with TMJ and it quids. Might be worth checking his teeth just in case he damaged one of them or has developed some other tooth issue. My youngster sometimes holds her tongue (or hay or shavings) between teeth when her cheek teeth diastemas are very sore.
 
Silverfire said:
Is he quidding eating haylage? Darkwater on here (i think its Darkwater) has a pony with TMJ and it quids. Might be worth checking his teeth just in case he damaged one of them or has developed some other tooth issue. My youngster sometimes holds her tongue (or hay or shavings) between teeth when her cheek teeth diastemas are very sore.
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Should also have said the teeth causing my youngster most problems at the moment are her lower sixth cheek teeth growing in on an angle and causing a painful diastema. Sixth teeth are up near/under eye socket.
 
Dentist is booked, but timing wise this is related to the eye socket fracture.


I have just ridden him in a headcollar and he was a different horse.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
cptrayes said:
Dentist is booked, but timing wise this is related to the eye socket fracture.


I have just ridden him in a headcollar and he was a different horse.

Thanks for the suggestions.
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Let us know how you get on.
Now you have got me worrying that my youngster has a TMJ problem and thats why she is still quidding a lot and why she keeps holding things between her front teeth while she is lying down/sleeping!
 
Oh my :-(
Know a couple of vets who are into acupuncture, in Holmfirth so not a million miles away from you, I don't think. They might at least be able to recommend someone closer. Let me know if you want details.
 
Buddy'sMum said:
Oh my :-(
Know a couple of vets who are into acupuncture, in Holmfirth so not a million miles away from you, I don't think. They might at least be able to recommend someone closer. Let me know if you want details.
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Thanks BM I have details for a vet who does chiro and acupuncture in Cheshire now.
 
cptrayes said:
Oh blimey, never rains but it pours.

I got my boy through kissing spines and he was going sweetly after his operation. Then I upset his gut badly with acidic haylage and finally got that right and he was working sweetly again. Then he fractured his eye socket in the barn overnight, and however he managed to do that, it also looks likely that he has given himself a TMJ injury.

Can I have your experiences and treatment of TMJ injuries please, as this is a total new one on me. Did your horse recover, and if so in what timescale? What were the symptoms, and did they all disappear?

I'm cooking a curry if anyone wants a share?
Click to expand...

I would speak to a qualified EDT or a physio for more assistance.
 
After j had his surgery to sort out the jaw / tooth issue he had one of the side effects was that during the surgery his TMJ was damaged presumably by being gagged for so long .
I had my physio check him after surgery he was in serious pain .
She treated him weekly for a month and then back to his regular three week to a month cycle .
I think it took two months for the pain to completely go but it did .
I had a very unlucky horse at one time owning her was like being on a roller coaster .
 
Goldenstar said:
After j had his surgery to sort out the jaw / tooth issue he had one of the side effects was that during the surgery his TMJ was damaged presumably by being gagged for so long .
I had my physio check him after surgery he was in serious pain .
She treated him weekly for a month and then back to his regular three week to a month cycle .
I think it took two months for the pain to completely go but it did .
I had a very unlucky horse at one time owning her was like being on a roller coaster .
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Thanks for that GS. It is very helpful to know of those time scales.

We're you able to ride meanwhile? It is important for his back for him to stay in work, and he seems very happy being ridden on a long rein in a bit less bridle. He was moving beautifully, much happier than on a long rein in the same shape with any contact on a bit.
 
cptrayes said:
Thanks for that GS. It is very helpful to know of those time scales.

We're you able to ride meanwhile? It is important for his back for him to stay in work, and he seems very happy being ridden on a long rein in a bit less bridle. He was moving beautifully, much happier than on a long rein in the same shape with any contact on a bit.
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No I did not ride j I gave him a break he was thin and looked unwell the repeated inflections he had pulled him down he's a bit of a softy and needed some TLC and down time .
I gave him three months .

Just adding I think it would after a fortnight it would have done him no harm to be hacked about I would not have expected him to work and learn stuff though.
 
OK, thanks. Learning stuff isn't on my agenda for him, and its easy to tell if he is unhappy. He's a very genuine horse, so if he tells me he's in trouble I will stop.
 
Hi,

I found this thread after seeing you refer to it on the Tack Room thread.

My horse had a colourful history, rearing being one of his less desirable habits. He seemed to need a regular dentist, he would resist especially on the left, and also was quidding. The dentistry seemed to work, but when he was on a 2-3 month schedule the dentist told me he thought there was more to it, and my horse was holding a lot of tension in the muscles around the TMJ.

The dentist recommended a vet in Leicestershire who was injecting steroids into the TMJ, and recommended I look into it (off the top of my head I think it was the big one at Oakham). He said that he had quite a few customers with horses like mine that had been and done this, and it was very successful. This was the only vets he knew doing the procedure.

It seemed a bit excessive for my boy, he no longer rears and seems generally happy, and so I looked at alternative ways to help him, as the dentist was not prepared to see him on such an inflated schedule as it was wearing his teeth too much.

I looked into Cranio Sacral treatment, and this has been fantastic, it has relaxed his jaw and also changed the way he moves his bum so the wasted portion in his rump is now looking at east 50% to a normal bum. I could PM you the details of the lady too, and at the same time I get a riding lesson and a treatment for myself.

We just need the dentist again now, but it is over 6 months since the last one, so we are back on a normal schedule. The dentist (popular one) can't fit me in until April, but I feel that is still OK.

So, although not the same as your horse, two possible treatments to discuss with your vet.
 
Our old boy had an altercation with the horse walker and injured his TMJ. Spent 6 weeks at Oakham Vets (highly recommended by the way - they were brilliant) then came home with a 'poor' prognosis. He was treated like an invalid and had 10 or 12 forage replacement feeds a day and struggled to eat hay or haylage. 2 months on he is great. What changed it all for him was turnout for 8 hours a day to use his jaw in a natural way eating grass, now his haylage is all gone overnight and he is down to just 4 feeds a day. So pleased and he will be starting work again in a couple of weeks. It is definitely the turnout that has made all the difference.
 
I have pretty much decided to turn mine away for two months. Thanks for telling me your experiences.

I hope all goes well.
 
good grief i had missed this thread, cptrayes i think you have as much luck as me with horses!! hope he is on the mend
 
mjcssjw2 said:
good grief i had missed this thread, cptrayes i think you have as much luck as me with horses!! hope he is on the mend
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Well, his jaw is back in line and he is eating freely, so that's a very good sign. I'm very worried about nerve damage, but he will not be ridden again until June, so it's a waiting game now.

I do have another who hasn't seen a vet for four years in spite of hunting. I've probably jinxed him now ;)

Thanks for asking :)
 
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