No Panacea for Pain
By Jillyris
Special to the Patriot
Sometimes, there is a feeling of helplessness that accompanies being in pain. Consider the journey of a highly intelligent, educated woman who stumbles because of her very personal, very physical pain parallels frustration with conventional medical procedures.
Which brings us to the story of Ann Sweet. Pay attention to her education and career choices, you’ll see why in a moment. Ann Sweet is Doylestown born and raised, a wife and mother who volunteers with Doylestown Hospital Hospice and as a Parish Nurse and member of the Christian Health Ministries Committee. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duke University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor and Master’s in Nursing and Acute Care. As a medical/surgical nurse, she has cared for patients in hospitals including Johns Hopkins and Doylestown. She writes articles and gives speeches in the medical field; she is an award-winning employee of Merck & Co., Inc. as a Senior Associate for Clinical Risk Management and Safety Surveillance. Which begs the questions, if someone with her impressive medical education, knowledge and experience cannot easily discover pain relief where does that leave the rest of us? Well, right here, to learn.
Pain signals systemic dysfunction. In Ann’s case, the gauge was high: intense migraine headaches, extreme tooth sensitivity, ear pain, her jaw clicking and locking so much that the simple action of chewing breakfast cereal was an impossible feat. She tried the traditional methods for relieving pain, including wearing a cumbersome dental mouthpiece, which made her look like a hockeyguard.
She also tried several different professionals, one who even discounted her symptoms and said, it was just her body chemistry.
At this exact point in the typical pain verses treatment saga, some patients will give up and decide to live with the pain. Statistics note that more than 28 million Americans suffer from chronic migraine headaches alone. In Ann’s case, after persevering and religiously following the treatment plans, not only was I not getting better and not making progress in terms of my bite,
she said, but I was actually feeling worse and in more pain.
Thankfully, Ann did not give up: she mentally reformulated her strategy plan and physically discontinued the approaches that simply were not working. Then she utilized her medical background to research if any non-traditional options were available which let her to the totally unfamiliar field of Neuromuscular Dentistry.
Neuromuscular Dentistry uses modern, scientific technologies to diagnose and treat problems by working with teeth as well as the bodies tissues, nerves, and muscles. For example, grab that old copy of Gray’s Anatomy and locate the human body’s skull, specifically the side view drawings showing the Temporal, Masseter and Pterygoid muscles. Notice the intricate head and neck muscles supporting and surrounding the jaw. Now place the palm of your hand flat on the side of your face. Open and close your mouth. Do you feel the movement? Multiply forward, backward, side-to-side movement times speaking, swallowing and chewing on a daily basis. If for whatever reason, whether through genetics, trauma or everyday stresses, the muscles cannot properly do their job,
discord happens in the forms of head, neck, jaw and shoulder pain, ears ringing and migraines.
Suitable armed with information, Ann’s next step was to find a qualified professional. Through her husband Charlie, Ann heard about Dr. Beth Snyder, a Doylestown dentist with advanced post-graduate training in Neuromuscular Dentistry and TMJ Dysfunction.
Ann is a bright woman who showed up on my doorstep feeling horrible and defeated.
Said Dr. Snyder. Within minutes of her initial exam, it was clear to me that long-term use of drinking acid-based liquids, such as sugar-free lemonade, had caused so much erosion, she had lost the support of her back teeth.
For instance, a table with a shorter leg is much like Ann’s situation, both have lost critical balance and stability.
Dr. Snyder and her staff initiated a full mouth restoration which also included TENS therapy and a fixed repositioning device, a later lifesaver for Ann.
From the minute I put that orthotic on, it was like my teeth found a home. The next day I woke up, I was totally pain-free; I never had pain again.
As a scientist, I thought this can’t be…but it is really true.
Her headaches amended, ear and jaw pains were gone, as well as tooth sensitivity and jaw locking problems.
I’m a good person to tell my story,
she said after discovering Neuromuscular Dentistry and following the prescribed treatment plan, because I have tried different ways and I was skeptical but boy, this worked for me.
The end of Ann’s experience could have been that she enjoys the improved quality of life, but the nurse
inside compels her to get the message out. If you are suffering, if something is not working, you need to have your mind open to different approaches.
And, she noted, to not get discouraged, there is help and hope.
