Tmj? Wisdom tooth?

[Amanda0922]

To start with, I have had constant sinus issues for over 4 years now. My dr put me on LOTS of antibiotics resulting in overall candida infection and I'm now on nystatin. Not only that, I still have sinus problems. The oral thrush showed up in August in addition to other symptoms such as sore throat, difficulty swallowing, neck pain, tonsil stones, ear pain, fluid in ears, clicking in ears when I swallow, swollen tongue, burning tongue, and overgrown papillae resulting in pain. After three months of searching on the internet I found the cause of overgrown papillae could be acid reflux and am now on meds for that. No more pain in my tongue, and inflamed papillae have reduced in size and number considerably. However, I still have an enlarged pale tongue, tonsil stones, ear pain, and clicking when I swallow.

For the record, I have always had tmj disorder. Pain in jaw, clicking in jaw, and do not open my mouth all the way for fear it could get stuck. I also have had wisdom teeth coming in for a long time now. They are growing in crooked and sideways.

My question is could my ear problems be caused by my tmj? Or by my wisdom teeth that are growing in incorrectly? Or both even? Could this cause my enlarged tongue? (I have had bumps on the sides of my tongue from the tongue pushing against my teeth since August). Or are my ear problems strictly associated with my sinus problems?

I suppose I should mention I am a 24 year old female. I haven't been to the dentist in 4 years. When I was 16, I was supposed to have the teeth next to my wisdom teeth pulled out to make room for my wisdom teeth, but I only had one of them pulled.

I do apologize for the lengthy post, but it's hard to ascertain which symptoms are caused by which conditions. Thank you.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

I'm not sure about the enlarged tongue but the rest of your symptoms could be caused by the wisdom teeth and/or TMJ problem.  Unfortunately all the nerves criss cross in the head and pain can be referred, meaning that it can jump and feel like its somewhere else even though the cause is somewhere else.

Judging by your symptoms, it may be a good idea to remove your wisdom teeth and see a TMJ specialist to address your TMJ problem.  The sinusitis should be resolved by antibiotics and thus seems to indicate that it may not be.  Did they take x-rays or anything to see if the sinus was filled with fluid?  If it is, its most likely a sinus infection but its odd that antibiotics haven't fixed it over the years.  You may want to post in the ENT section and see how often that happens.  

My guess to the enlarged tongue may be that the wisdom teeth are crowding in your mouth and it may be making the tongue feel larger due to the restriction of space in the area.  It may also be pointing in a way that rubs against the tongue and irritates it.  

I would suggest you go to your dentist and get it checked out.  Simply by removing the wisdom teeth, it may solve the problem.  The TMJ may be a separate issue and also contributing to your problems.

As for your other tongue issues, I'm not sure if its related to it.  It could be a side effect of the medication.  Your situation may be a combination of things going on and the cascade of treatments that give you these various symptoms.  Best to address the wisdom teeth and stop the antibiotics/nystatin as soon as possible to evaluate.

[fergusmom]

Amanda,

I noticed your message right away as we seem to have similar symptoms.  I too have had sinus problems for the past 4 years, and 2 years ago discovered that I had a systemic candida infection. About the same time I noticed a rotating pain between my lymph nodes in the head/neck, sinuses and ears.  This was accompanied by dull pain in the neck, jaw and sides of head (temples), ringing in the ears, fluid in the ears, and pressure building in the ears/frequent popping.  I've also been told that I'm overdue for a wisdom teeth extraction and have dysfunctional eustachian tubes.  

In my desire to heal myself of Sinus Infections/Candida/Chronic Fatigue, I've done a lot of research and found a great Naturopath to work with, so hopefully my experience will offer some guidance in alleviating your symptoms.

Here's what has helped me:
SINUSITUS: many people aren't aware that there are both bacterial and fungal infections of the sinuses.  For those with fungal infections, antibiotics make the situation worse because they kill off the beneficial bacteria that fend off a candida overgrowth, thereby perpetuating the fungal infection of the sinuses. For more information on the sinusitus/candida connection, check out Dr. Robert Ivker's research at http://www.sinussurvival.com/.

I'm on a prescription for Xylitol (5%) as a Nasal Spray.  Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that won't feed the yeast and acts as an anti-inflammatory.  NOW also makes an over the counter version that includes essential oils and grapefruit seed extract (a potent anti-fungal).

I also can't say enough for steam inhalation with eucalyptus essential oil (decongestant, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory) followed by nasal irrigation with a neti pot filled with a saline solution.

(Assuming you accept that candida may be one of your root problems)
CANDIDA:  Adhering strictly to a candida diet is imperative.  Some need to do this for a few months, others a year. I am on it my second time around (1st time 4 months; this time 6 months).  The only diet I have found success with is the Body Ecology Diet: http://www.bodyecologydiet.com/.  Don't get lost in all of the products and the commentary.  The book is all you need, although their starters for making your own probiotic foods are the best I've found.

I've also recently discovered a product called Threelac (available from many internet sources).  I've tried everything to get rid of candida, and within days this made me  feel dramatically better.  I highly recommend it, and the price is on par with over the counter probiotics.

I'm also on a prescription for Nystatin to combat the candida.  This helped initially, but I've read that the yeast can adapt to the Nystatin, thereby making it no longer effective, and my progress with just the Nystatin tapered off, so that makes sense to me.

EAR PAIN:  If you do nothing else, try to pick up a sugar free gum that contains Xylitol.  I have a prescription for this too.  I have one piece after each meal, and my ear pain/popping has been significantly reduced.  The ringing has disappeared completely.  After a few months of chewing this gum, my pain came back as soon as I ran out!  

I know this is a lot of information, but I think it's important to learn from the experiences of others.  Good luck!