My Saxophone playing days are over…….

[Michael Bishop]

Hi Marc,
Nice to hear from you. When I posted this on the forum, I was told by a dentist that I had TMJ and probably wouldn’t be able to play again. I took a few people’s advice and got a 2nd opinion. I contacted a person I knew when I did my externship for my school who is an Orthopedic surgeon…he actually remembered me 🙂 He agreed to see me, free of charge at the end of his work day. We took X-rays of my jaw and nothing is broken, out-of-place, anything like that. He believed the dentist who gave me that advice misdiagnosed me and recommended me to an Orthodonist. I was referred to/contacted Dr. Kyle Dalton here in Little Rock, an Orthodonist who is the leading authority in TMJ, TMD, here in our state–I put a link to his website below. Ironically, he played Saxophone for many years LOL His examination of me was very extensive, which included an MRI of my jaw/face from a 360 degree angle, testing my range of motion of my jaw, my tongue, screening of the nerves in my face, etc.. What he discovered (this was this past Tuesday afternoon) is that I have what is called ‘ankyloglossia” or in common terms is called “tongue-tie”. Basically what has happened is the tendon under my tongue (the frenulum) is too small and has been restricting the range of motion of my tongue for my entire life. In other words, I’ve had this all my life and didn’t even know it. You wouldn’t think of it, but the tongue is the master organ of the entire oral cavity and it affects everything. The lack of range of motion from my tongue over so many years finally caused an onset of symptoms that mimick TMJ like the swollen Masseter muscle (we use this muscle for chewing food, very important muscle in saxophone playing), stretched ligaments, etc.. Using the MP that I was using didn’t cause the problems I have been experiencing, but it did cause the “tongue-tie” to finally start manifesting symptoms.
Dr. Dalton’s plan for me is 12 weeks of steroid injection on a weekly basis in my jaw (3 shots per week) to alleviate the pain/swelling in my jaw/Masseter muscle and pulled ligament of the jaw. This will be followed by a frenectomy (cutting down of the tendon of my tongue) with lazer technology and 12 weeks of facial rehab. He will also withdraw fluid in my jaw to help reduce swelling and wants me to use a mouth guard at night for the next 12 weeks. On top of this, there is a prescribed cream that will restore strength to the right side of my face. Especially after the frenectomy, he said I would feel “110% better” and disagrees with the dentist who first saw me….my playing days are NOT over on the Sax–I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was to hear those words. With the ‘tongue-tie’ that I’ve had all these years and didn’t even know it, if I don’t accept treatment now in 10-15 years he said I wouldn’t even be able to hardly open my jaw. Accepting treatment now will fix the problem. I was extremely happy to discover that my Medical Insurance is covering 100% of the costs for the next 12 weeks–without that, it would have cost me over $8,000 out of my own pocket. By the end of 12 weeks I should be back up to being able to play again, which is why my Orthopedic surgeon said too…60-100 days of no playing. I sent 2 members here on Johnny’s site (1 of them is an RN) my Assessment from Dr. Dalton that showed what his examination was on me, his assessment and his plan to get me back to feeling better. It’s extensive but I can personally tell you…he knows what he’s doing. I’m in good hands with him. No doctor has ever told me how much problems the tendon under the tongue can cause…no one has even told me I had ‘tongue-tie’ in my entire life. He said that’s because most dentists don’t even know it themselves and it takes a specialist like an Orthodonist to find the problem…most Dentists will simply tell you that you have TMJ like I was told.
In the mean time, I’ve been keeping busy with some exercises my Sax Instructor showed me to keep my embouchure/air support in shape. I’ve also been busy with my wife’s Organ and have considered getting good at playing Piano….Piano/keyboards has always appealed to me for sure 🙂 What was really the most discouraging with all of this is the timing of this whole ordeal…I was getting ready to start all of my uploads and have my studio all set up/ready to go. But according to Dr. Dalton, I WILL be back up to playing in weeks to come; so stay tuned. Will keep you posted. Thanks for the encouragement Marc 🙂 Here’s the link to the team of Orthodonists/Dentists who are collaborating in my treatment.

http://www.centraldental.com/meet-our-doctors/

[Anonymous]

Hi Michael

That is wonderful news, that there is an effective treatment for your medical condition.

Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery.
Jeff and Bev

[Kevin]

Michael, You now need to start a new topic- “My sax playing days are back for LIFE!”
(the power of Positive thinking is often times as much of the source of recovery and healing as medical and rehab solutions…)

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