5 Things TMJ Patients Should Know About Sign Language

For TMD patients, preventing damage = love.

It was Christmas Day 2015. I was standing in the lobby of Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside. We were trying to check in using a reservation I made, but talking was excruciating.

Even trying to utter one word meant my pain levels spiked to a 10 according to the universal pain chart of doom.

I started to cry right there in the lobby out of sheer frustration. Hard. It was embarrassing and this moment was the culmination of my denial about my TMD. As someone who constantly feels the need to explain herself, every attempt brought a sharp zap of pain that literally prevented my from finishing my sentences.

If you don't know my story, I had "tmj" (TMD) for years, but it went undiagnosed. During that time, I lost all the cartilage in the left side of my jaw. Now when I speak, my doctor tells me it's essentially "bone on bone". This causes swelling and all kinds of other symptoms.

Of course, I didn't know all that standing in the lobby of our hotel on Christmas day. I just knew that opening my jaw, even a teeny bit, meant a sharp pain in my jaw joint, then migraine-like spikes to my temples and finally a sickening, dull ache throughout my entire body.

At that moment, I had no choice. I could not speak. I was the only one with the information we needed. I had to write everything down in the notes section of my phone and my husband had to translate. (Not an easy task to type or look at a screen once a migraine has begun.)

After that day, I knew, I had to start learning basic sign language. Even if my husband and I just learned a few key phrases. If they're common enough and we can replace speaking them with sign language, think about how much talking that saves me cumulatively over a lifetime.

People with Acute TMD will start to learn their pain levels. Just like with migraines, sometimes you can catch your pain when it's at a lower level, take care of yourself and prevent the severe pain that might force you into bed for days at a time. (I HATE being stuck in bed. It's my least favorite part of having chronic pain.)

For people like me who have Acute TMD, you should know that sign language is absolutely an option for preventing a bout!

 Here are some other things you might find helpful:

1. You don't have to be deaf to use sign language. For a long time, I hesitated really diving in because I was worried it was offensive for me to learn sign language. Which is kind of crazy, right? Because it's just another language anyone can speak.

You do not want to see me when I'm in pain. Just imagine
it looks like this, because she is super pretty...

2. You may not need to learn everything to use sign language. Start with what you need most, start with the alphabet. Start small. The first two things I learned to sign were "thank you" and "I can't speak but I can hear".

3. You can learn some basics for free at Giphy.com. For free. Isn't that cool? I use giphy a lot to make jokes and it warms my heart that they are offering something like this.

4. Learning another language is a good thing to do anyway. Let's say, your TMD magically heals and you never need to sign again. Won't it still be good to know how to speak sign language? Won't it be great to be able to communicate freely with others who speak sign language? There's basically no down side to learning a new language.

5. If it helps you feel better, why not just try it? Have you ever heard that joke, "A guy says to his doctor, 'Doctor, it hurts when I do this.' So the doctor says, 'Don't do that.'"?

Well, you just did. It contains some very simple wisdom. Listen to your body. Trying this certainly isn't going to hurt you, so go for it! What do you have to lose?

I know I have some nerve opening a story about chronic pain by telling you I was hurting at Disney World. Not exactly sympathy-inspiring, right? But for anyone with Acute TMD...you can probably guess how well the rest of that vacation went. I was in absolute agony.

If you can avoid a bout, if you can avoid pain, trust me, you will do whatever it takes to avoid the sharp spikes, ear cracking and constant dull aching of severe TMD. Do yourself a favor and start learning sign language! Before it ruins your Christmas/life.