Therabite

po

Has anyone used a therabite before? I measured my opening of my jaw before i used it and it was 15mm after i used it it was 25mm pretty good I've only used it for 2 days since seeing the consultant. Who is very pleased with me think he is just glad to see me doing well! Anyway the therabite is good but the jaw only stays good for about 10mins does it get better i did ask the consultant to break the jaw and hold it open but he said he couldn't do this haha. He did say the reason the jaw doesn't open is because the muscles have fibrosed due to not being used and he had to unhitch the coronoid muscle from the tmj joint. Just as well I have a sense of humour

soccerfreaks

therabite
I have used a therabite, and in fact was just looking at mine and wondering why I hadn't used it in awhile as I opened this discussion board. I used mine originally in conjunction with physical therapy designed specifically to make my tongue more agile while increasing jaw opening and motion. This included a variety of exercises to move my tongue from side to side and up to touching the palate, along with others to extend the lower jaw outward, to extend it to either side (all of these while holding it in place for x amount of time) and both massage and some aggressive kneading of the muscles of the jaw and the neck.

I would say that getting from 15mm to 25mm is pretty nice!

I went from about 22mm to 29mm, if I remember correctly, through the course of treatment, and was advised that the therabite would help me keep it there and maybe even improve it (I was also told that about 35mm would be considered normal range for someone of my gender and size).

I was also advised that the therabite is expensive (it is, but mine was covered) and that I could replace it with tongue depressors and get pretty much the same effect. I am not so sure of that as, even though the therabite is expensive for a piece of plastic, it seems much more durable than tongue depressors.

I have found that eating, to be honest, is the best way to maintain at least a minimal amount of jaw opening since this is a great form of exercise. I did not have a problem with losing the successful effect after a mere 10 minutes, but, yes, over time, if you are not eating, and perhaps if you discontinue use of the therabite, you might expect this. I have experienced the same.

Be patient and keep working it!

Take care,

Joe

po

soccerfreaks said:

therabite
I have used a therabite, and in fact was just looking at mine and wondering why I hadn't used it in awhile as I opened this discussion board. I used mine originally in conjunction with physical therapy designed specifically to make my tongue more agile while increasing jaw opening and motion. This included a variety of exercises to move my tongue from side to side and up to touching the palate, along with others to extend the lower jaw outward, to extend it to either side (all of these while holding it in place for x amount of time) and both massage and some aggressive kneading of the muscles of the jaw and the neck.

I would say that getting from 15mm to 25mm is pretty nice!

I went from about 22mm to 29mm, if I remember correctly, through the course of treatment, and was advised that the therabite would help me keep it there and maybe even improve it (I was also told that about 35mm would be considered normal range for someone of my gender and size).

I was also advised that the therabite is expensive (it is, but mine was covered) and that I could replace it with tongue depressors and get pretty much the same effect. I am not so sure of that as, even though the therabite is expensive for a piece of plastic, it seems much more durable than tongue depressors.

I have found that eating, to be honest, is the best way to maintain at least a minimal amount of jaw opening since this is a great form of exercise. I did not have a problem with losing the successful effect after a mere 10 minutes, but, yes, over time, if you are not eating, and perhaps if you discontinue use of the therabite, you might expect this. I have experienced the same.

Be patient and keep working it!

Take care,

Joe

joe
thanks this is quite reassuring anf hopefully each day i use it my jaw will open wider and it will be earier as in the morning it is hard but you need to persevere. I am eating but chewing i get fed up with. But again with time hopefully it will be easier.