TMJ problems

[scats]

Please talk to me about experiences of TMJ issues in horses- experiences, treatments and outcomes.
Vet chiro been to see Polly today and we have slight concerns.
Will update properly later on.

 

[scats]

Vet Chiro saw Polly today for her routine check up and I mentioned that for the last couple of months, she has been yawning and mildly shaking her head for a few minutes when I first put her bridle on. Nothing extreme and it settles within a few minutes. Dentist saw her and said teeth not causing any issues. I’ve tried different bridles and bits, removing nose bands, brow bands etc. Anyway, everywhere else was fine, but vet Chiro found some obvious tension and soreness to the left TMJ. Trouble is, once she had found it, Polly became increasingly upset about any touching of her head anywhere and we were unable to determine whether this extreme reaction was just Polly being Polly or because she was in a lot of pain around the TMJ. Polly is known for extreme reactions to very minor things and that you can’t always take her level of reaction as an indicator of the seriousness of a problem. Fortunately vet Chiro knows her very well, but it does leave us in a tricky position.
There appear to be no issues with quidding or eating in general and what she exhibited today was far, far more extreme than she ever has when I’ve been putting her bridle on. I have been given some exercises to do with her in a few days once she has gotten over todays trauma, which I will do for a week and if I continue to find her level of reaction pretty extreme, I will book her in for a CT scan. Vet Chiro knows my vet and will speak to him in advance about her findings if we do decide to investigate this further.
No obvious signs of sinus problems either.

So I really would appreciate any experiences of TMJ at all as I may well be embarking on yet another expensive drama with Polly (who my vet Chiro refers to as the luckiest pony she’s met!)

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Unfortunately no experience but I watch great video by Richard Maxwell showing how to release the tmj. Very easy to do. It was on you tube.

 

[scats]

Unfortunately no experience but I watch great video by Richard Maxwell showing how to release the tmj. Very easy to do. It was on you tube.

Thank you, just had a look at that.
Trying to work out where this has come from and wondering whether Polly’s argument with her stable wall last year might have actually done some damage after all. She had the summer off after that and came back into work in November, which is when I noticed this issue being bridled.

 

[CMcC]

Unfortunately no experience but I watch great video by Richard Maxwell showing how to release the tmj. Very easy to do. It was on you tube.

Richard Maxwell is a qualified Masterson Method practitioner, the techniques in the video are Masterson Method. You might find a treatment by MM practitioner would help.

 

[Red-1]

If there was a traumatic injury last year, and now this, I would go to the extent of a full vet exam and X rays if necessary.

 

[Trouper]

I'm usually the first one to shout for the Osteo Vet but in this case I would certainly let the machines tell you what they can first and not try too much second-guessing or manipulation. Time for that when you have some answers.

 

[scats]

Thanks all. I’ve videoed her this morning and there is something definitely going on (how do I post a video?)
I had noticed her box walking had got worse but I hadn’t really connected the two, but having actually watched her this morning, I’m convinced there’s something going on. She may well be sore from yesterday, but thinking back, I have been witnessing this behaviour, I just hadn’t really put two and two together as she is such an odd little horse and behaves in very strange ways. Ringing vet as soon as they open.

 

[Noble]

My mare saw her vet/chiropractor this morning, she had some issues with her TMJ, once she found the trigger the mare totally over reacted rearing and became a complete diva. It was fairly easily sorted, greedy mare plus endless supply of polo's during treatment. I knew the reason though and had already warned the vet/chiropractor that during recent dental work she had clamped down so hard on the gag the dentist had warned she would probably need pain relief, she was very sore. Could she have clamped onto the gag during her dental visit? Just a thought, possibly we have the same chiropractor as she was telling me a similar story to yours about a horse she had recently seen. She also mentioned the possibility of laser treatment, not for mine as we knew the issue but in general for TMJ issues. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

[SEL]

I had the microcobs head X rayed during her breathing / head shaking investigation and it's straightforward enough to do at the yard - I think any bodywork practitioner would want to rule out any underlying damage from when she hit her head and I expect you do too now. Hopefully nothing serious xx

 

[scats]

I’ve booked the vet for peace of mind, even if we just send her in for a scan to check it out.

 

[Tiddlypom]

scats, I fervently hope that whatever is found is readily treatable.

That makes three of us with horses with TMJ issues which have been identified by the same (utterly brilliant) chiro vet. I do wonder just how many horses are out there with undiagnosed discomfort in this area.

My wonky mare's TMJ issues are milder, and are manageable. She is pain free all along her back after injuring her pelvis two years ago, but she can hold some residual tension in the TMJ region. I have an owner friendly exercise to do in between 4 monthly chiro vet visits, (scats has seen the video), which involves massaging the masseter muscles to release tension.

 

[Goldenstar]

The thing I would do first is a bute trial .
They can inject TMJ with steroid , if an acute incident causes the issue this may give you a good long term result if it’s chronic wear and tear you are likely to have repeat treatment .
I would go straight for a head MRI that’s what I did with my horse he turned out to have a congenitally malformed tooth which was removed and the TMJ pain resolved .

 

[scats]

scats, I fervently hope that whatever is found is readily treatable.

That makes three of us with horses with TMJ issues which have been identified by the same (utterly brilliant) chiro vet. I do wonder just how many horses are out there with undiagnosed discomfort in this area.

My wonky mare's TMJ issues are milder, and are manageable. She is pain free all along her back after injuring her pelvis two years ago, but she can hold some residual tension in the TMJ region. I have an owner friendly exercise to do in between 4 monthly chiro vet visits, (scats has seen the video), which involves massaging the masseter muscles to release tension.

Thanks TP.

I emailed the video to my vet and I have a feeling that he thinks I might be overreacting, but despite Polly’s quirks, this behaviour is not part of her usual repertoire and that’s enough to make me think we need to investigate it.
Do I need to upload to YouTube to post the video here?

Its definitely one step forward and two back with this little horse, but I took her on knowing there were issues (albeit not quite this much!) and I have never left a stone unturned in the last 4 years, so she will have whatever she needs.
Sometimes I wonder why I’m doing it ? She’s pretty much just a companion who can only stand up to a bit of walk and trot or the wheels fall off. She’s a stressy box walker, costs me a fortune in bedding, has a lunatic switch that jams on sometimes and there’s nothing you can do about it… but she trusts me more than anything in the world and she is genuinely the nicest person to have around… if you can ignore her strange behaviour and take her for who she is. Still, anyone with any sense would have shot her long ago!
Will try and get this video attached.

 

[Roxylola]

I can't help much but I upload video to YouTube to add here. Glad she's got you looking out for her

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

@scats I have just posted a separate thread about TMJ. Did you get anywhere with yours? Vet is taking a look at mine next week as she's just been found to be terribly sore during a physio session.

 

[scats]

@scats I have just posted a separate thread about TMJ. Did you get anywhere with yours? Vet is taking a look at mine next week as she's just been found to be terribly sore during a physio session.

The vet came to see her and did suspect some mild issue with her TMJ. Due to Polly’s general nature, we decided to try as conservative methods as possible as she doesn’t cope well with change, hospitals, vets, procedures etc ?

I removed her noseband when riding. I always had it very loose but simply it touching her face seemed to make the issue worse. I saw a huge improvement after taking the noseband off.
Vet chiro came to see her again and tried some more things but Polly was very against them. She did give me some techniques to try around her face but I had no chance to be honest.

Interestingly it settled down for a while and then kicked off again after she had a sleep deprivation attack and went head first into the stable wall (around April time, exactly the same happened the previous year) but it did settle again and seems to have gone back a very mild occasional thing.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

interesting re the noseband, I also have mine very loose to the point where I don't even know why I bother. I'm not going to play around with anything until the vet has seen her but might take that off and see what happens.

I'll keep you updated with my TMJ jounrey if it's of interest to you.