Free Satya from Chronic TMJ Pain

I have bad Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, and it sucks.


Hello everyone my name is Satya Nallasivan  and I am a 22-year-old guy currently living in South Florida. I need your support to help fund a treatment in  California that could potentially save me from a life of chronic pain and suffering and finally provide me a chance to live a normal life. I have been suffering from horrible debilitating  Temporomandibular Joint Disorder  for the past 4 years. Everyday I wake up  with a headache and go to sleep with burning joint pain. My facial muscles spasm and tighten and cause so much pain sometimes that all I can I do is hold my face completely still. No smiling, no talking, no eating. I have tinnitus that comes and goes almost every day. My neck and back hurts constantly. My jaw joints getting inflamed every 2-3 days or so leaving me with a burning pain inside my ears. My legs,face and body constantly twitch due to slipped discs inside my jaw.


I sleep 4-5 hours at best every night. I can’t eat most solid foods. I can’t laugh.

I am 22 and I live like an old person. And it’s only getting worse.


A lot of people around me not aware of the true extent of my suffering in the past 4 years, I have been suffering terribly from this disorder and have been in constant chronic pain.  I try to my best to present a normal façade, giving  everyone the illusion that I too lead a normal life.

I have always had a positive attitude with a good sense of humour always trying to make people laugh. I goof off and laugh. Lately however a lot people ask me why I don’t laugh as much or even smile for photos. Because it hurts. A lot. If I try to smile especially on a bad day, the next 5-6 hours are spent with my facial muscles in extreme spasming and agonizing pain. Muscle relaxants, heat, Ibuprofin, nothing works. I have to simple lie down, close my eyes and pray my pain goes away soon.


It wasn’t always like this. I was a happy and healthy child. My face was symmetrical. I had no pain issues.



Here is a picture of my as child.








Here is a picture of me now.


 My facial muscles have swollen up with uneven use and my face has been asymmetrical especially in the last 2-3 years from uneven jaw disc damage. I have constant dark circles from being perpetually tired and not enough sleep.


All that changed when I walked into an orthodontist’s office when I was 15. I lived in India at that time. I was told I had an overbite. I was told I would have to have 4 bicuspids (upper 2 and bottom 2) removed.  Being naive and thinking the doctor was always right I pushed through. My parents didn’t know any better either. I was told it was no big deal and many people have it done. Little I did I know it will be the greatest mistake of my life.


Here is  video of something similiar to what was done to me.





It was almost a rush job. 4 healthy teeth were extracted in one sitting. Braces and rubber bands were put on and the upper and lower retracted. It was so quick that I lost 7-8 mm of space  on both sides of my teeth. I had nice straight teeth though right? Unknowingly however my upper jaw (maxilla) had been pushed back too far, pushing the mandible along with it.

My discs inside my jaw got displaced like shown in the example MRI below.



Here are the results of  an MRI of my discs confirming the same has happened to me.




Here’s a short video explaining what happened.





Additional video on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRs7DHhRxzw



I lived like this for 3 years  from the ages of 15-18 slowly worsening but with no pain. I could open my mouth less and less, had trouble chewing and swallowing but no pain.


At 18 my pain started. First clicking and locking of jaw. Then facial pain,headaches,joint pain, ear pain. It went full blown. I tried everything chiropractor,nightguards,osteopaths,acupuncture. For 3 years I went to dentist to dentist, searching for my ever worsening condition in pain all the while studying Computer Engineering as an undergrad in Illinois.  Nobody had a solid explanation or what to do to fix. I was told all kinds of reasons. Stress, it’s all in your head, stop chewing gum (I never chewed in the first place!). I started to suspect it was something caused by my previous orthodontics since I have had nothing else done to jaw/teeth. My symmetrical face started tilting as one side of jaw joint deteriorated worse than the other side. My face started swelling as well unevenly probably from the constant muscle spasms and tightening. I started getting a bad overbite something the my first round “orthodontics” should have fixed.  I couldn’t breath properly at night. I was starting to show symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea as well.


I found Facebook groups dedicated TMJ/TMJD sufferers and found many who have had the same done to them. I started to put the pieces together. There were a few who had been able to undo the damage bicuspid extraction orthodontics had done to them.  They were able to reopen their extraction space and put implants in where their natural teeth had been extracted.  They felt so many of issues go away.


I didn’t know where to start. To test for certain the retractive orthodontics is what did this to me I decide to experiment.  My lower jaw had been shoved back for so long.


I got an MRI upon the instruction of a TMJ specialist Dr. Brown in Maryland who I luckily stumbled upon through his regular contributions on the TMJD facebook group.  He told me my discs were slipped. And he was right. My discs were anteromedially slipped and probably had been for years from right around the time I started losing my mouth opening.  The MRI confirmed it.  After I consulted through skype  with him he instructed me to wear a flat plane splint to that would allow my lower jaw to come forward and down. Something closer to where my lower jaw should have been naturally.

A flat planned splint:

I went to my local dentist and asked to fashion a lower flat splint. He had other ideas on his mind. But I pressed on.

Around the same time I learned of  DIY splint fashioning technique called Starecta http://starecta.com/ which focused on a similar principle.


A wore a combination of both splints for months. My overbite went away. I got an edge to edge to bite. My lower jaw came forward and down.  


For the first time in around 5-6 years I could open my mouth more than 2 fingers wide.


I also met a wonderful tongue therapist who has been doing tongue training for over 40 years and she helps many in pain and who suffer from TMJD. I learned tongue therapy from her and made some progress with my facial muscle cramping. I can now stay standing or sitting past 6 pm without rushing back home in pain from all the crushing facial pain. She herself is a sufferer of TMJD and she warned me of importance of having enough tongue space and that there is only so much I could do with the tongue when your teeth and jaw are retruded.

Here is a pic of my teeth. My teeth are edge to edge.







These small victories are good but the thing is though I’m not  cured by any means. Removing my splints for more than a few hours gives me immense pain in both joints that can last for hours. My facial muscles still cramp up when I try to laugh. I still can’t breath at night and haven’t had a good night’s sleep in years. I still can’t solid foods. I still hear ringing in my ears.  I’m only fooling my lower jaw with a flat splint. I need the real thing. My lower still wants to come even more forward but is being stopped by my upper teeth. My jaw joint discs are not still fully in place.



Here is  side profile view on my head and neck. Notice the lack of chin due to my lower jaw being shoved back.






 I The retracted lower jaw also comprises the airway and makes its smaller.  That’s what causes Obstructive Sleep Apnea and breathing issues.


Here is a video explaining that in more detail.  Watch from the 2:51 mark.




I am extremely positive and I struggle everyday  to keep moving forward. I still go to 9 to 5 job. I need the money. However, this is becoming unbearably difficult as I am developing new symptoms of this condition as I go longer and longer with my discs out of place. My chronic lack of sleep for years now and unresolved sleep apnea is wreaking havoc. My body is perpetually tired and disoriented. I experience muscle spasms 24/7 and hands and head twitch uncontrollably at times accompanied by anxiety. I can’t focus on anything anymore. My weight yo yos depending on how much I can actually chew that day before my joints flare up and I have to go back to my liquid diet.  Every day I wake up hoping and desperately praying if today is the day that I won’t experience any pain or symptoms. If I will be able to true feel like a 22 year old.


This condition is very complex lying in between the dental and medical field, making it extremely difficult to cure. I have spent all my savings in my search. No medical insurance covers TMJ treatment since it is dental in nature. I have paid 1000s for visits, travels diagnostics and faulty treatments all out of pocket.   But now I have finally have the most promising solution I have come across. I need to give lower jaw the space to come back to its natural place. Where it should have been if I hadn’t been butchered by a short-sighted orthodontist. I think the hardest part is trying to explain to others why I often I refuse to engage in most physical or outdoor activities. I’m terrified. Anything can set off the pain be it as simple as eating a new food.


I need to someone who can reopen the extraction space where my bicuspid teeth were taken out, expand the arches and create enough space to put dental implants in. It doesn’t help that I’m an adult and it's not easy to move teeth drastically like with children. Most orthodontists wouldn’t even know how to do it even if they were to risk something like it.  And I certainly can’t trust my future in the hands of another amatuer orthodontist like I did the first time.


Here is a video of what I would need done.





I have researched a lot and it looks like my best option would be to do it with Dr. Hang in California. http://facefocused.com/

He has been reopening extraction spaces for people who have had extraction orthodontics since 1989 and has done this for over and over again through the years. My tongue therapist suggests I do this with him as many of her other patients who have been treated by him have had positive results and I definitely trust her.


Of course all of this isn’t cheap or quick. It will mostly like take more than year to reopen the spaces, realign the arches and put the implants in. I have been quoted 18,800$ for the entire treatment. I have spent a lot already so far to get to this point where I have an answer. My family has exhausted their financial resources on recovering my brother’s health  as well who has an autoimmune disease.


I try to distract myself  and focus on all the good I have in my life. I normally don’t tell anyone that I suffer from this condition, as it reminds me more of the pain. Though it is increasingly harder for people to not notice the poor condition my body and face is in. The tiredness,discomfort and lack of sleep is more and more evident.


My intentions are  simply leading a healthy body for the rest of my life. At this point, I am willing to try anything and this is the most promising treatment  I have come across so far. I need your support. Any size of donation is truly appreciated. I realize that many of you are not financially able to donate, but please support me by creating awareness about removing such barbaric procedures from happening in modern dentistry.I’m not saying everyone who has bicuspids pulled has problems but I have met and interacted with enough to know that many do.  I will be updating my progress through pictures throughout the treatment. Thank you!