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As far as TMJ, I can tell you from my own experience that it is incurable and that it is progressive and no chiropractor or doctor can alter this. They can alleviate the pain and discomfort associated with it. The person you should see for this is a highly respected TMJ specialist, not a chiropractor. I did this and it helped.

Is it possible that your problems are due to an embouchure breakdown, including too much pressure and that what you need to do is start over with a good teacher who will not let you develop bad habits? To assume your problems are a major medical problem seems extreme to me, but again I didn't get in on this from the beginning. Just a suggestion and not meant to start a flaming thread on chiropractors! It is about time that ''TMJ'' was clarified and cleared up, as many hornist are under misconceptions about it.

TMJ is a joint. It is NOT a 'condition'. It stands for T [temporo-, temporal bone, the bone in which the ear is situated] M [mandibular- mandible, the actual jaw bone itself] J[the joint between these two, lying just below the lobe of the ear. Two joints of course, one on each side]

As far as TMJ, I can tell you from my own experience that it is incurable and that it is progressive and no chiropractor or doctor can alter this.
writes Jennifer. She is incorrect on this, and could lead to hornists being misled. As I've said above, TMJ is not a medical condition, it is an anatomical joint. ''TMJ'' as she puts it is NOT incurable, it is NOT progressive, and chiropractors, some doctors, and I myself treat 'this problem' with usually excellent results. She appears not to have visited a professional trained and able to handle this ''condition'' effectively. She says she received help, implying that the problem is not eradicated

The person you should see for this is a highly respected TMJ specialist, not a chiropractor. I did this and it helped.

I speak as a TMJ specialist myself.

This is what ''TMJ'' is all about: The end of the jaw bone fits into a socket at the front of the ear bone, on both sides. This ear bone (Temporal bone) is able to, and is intended to, move. It can therefore jam up (become subluxated to a degree). When this happens, one gets dysfunction in the joint. The ends are not in line, the joint becomes inflamed and hurts, and as the body tries to compensate, other factors such as headaches, palpitations, asthma, gynaecological or ulcerative colitis problems can be precipitated. Perhaps even being a factor in a colostomy. (Which in my practice I have seen). In the reverse, even such a thing as a painful ingrowing toenail can trigger off a TMJ problem. [I won't go into the medical or structural reasons for this, and I have obviously kept medical terminology and descriptions to the simplest here.]

TMJ problems CAN be treated, and ARE being treated by skilled therapists everywhere. The trick is finding these therapists. Generally speaking, providing that the condition has been correctly diagnosed, a doctor or specialist is the last person able to carry out correct treatment. Because very few have been trained and achieved experience in the technicalities of mechanically sorting out the problem and resulting ramifications. By correct treatment I mean actually correcting the subluxed (twisted) joint, and furthermore tracing and correcting any other factors due to compensations arising as a result of the TMJ condition. Injections may temporarily reduce local pain and inflammation. They should only be given *after* the mechanical causes have been corrected. Otherwise injections will actually make the local damage worsen, as the protective pain may be reduced. Very few medical practitioners are aware of this, I'm sorry to say. In point of fact, all this is very much basic material, only a little more advanced that learning the alphabet, as it were.

Do you really think it is wise to advise a 17 year old to see chiropractors?
Yes, vitally so! Children should be seen probably from the age of perhaps three - six months old. At the age of 50, it is too late, really. Damage is already permanent, no matter what the problem, and can usually only be partially helped. It is certainly possible to spot some kind of hearing problem as young as this, and to take corrective action to allow normal hearing for musicians later in life. I don't know exactly what hearing condition Beethoven had, but it would have taken many years to develop to total deafness. I cannot but wonder whether he would still be able to hear in his old age if he had only been taken to see an expert in 'TMJ' when he was 17!!!