#75500 06-11-2008 01:44 PM | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2 Member | OP  Member
Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2 | I underwent radiation treatment (tonsillar, stage 11,squamous cell) in the head and neck region three years ago. A side effect is limited jaw opening, now only one inch. I'm told that Hyperbaric Oxygen treatments (HBO)might help heal jaw muscle tissue and restore opening of my mouth to more normal range. Anyone out there had experience using HBO treatment for this purpose? Thanks in advance for any feedback.
DDAH20
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Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,912 Likes: 52 | The inability to open fully is a result of scar tissue (a tissue which is non elastic) which formed in the muscle and other muscle changes as a result of damage followed by healing. The important thing that too many radiation facilities do not tell you is that DURING treatments, stretching the muscles to their fullest extent regularly each day is necessary to maintain the full length of the muscle at the end of the day when all this is over. I have never heard of 02 treatments being used for this, and given the biomechanical reasons for the trismus, that it would actually work.
Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
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Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2 | Brian,
Thanks a bunch for your feedback. Another question, do you think stretching, although painful, will restore the range of motion?
What about stretching under sedation?
DDAH20
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,912 Likes: 52 OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,912 Likes: 52 | Stretching is slow process and there are a couple of different devices to help extend the range of motion, that you can ask people about here that have actually tried them. Like all muscular stretching, it is pushing the muscle to its limits over and over again, and not something that is done at one "under sedation" kinda thing. That is a surgical intervention that only a couple of people I know have had with some improvement and significant discomfort. I would go with the several months of stretching multiple times a day first to see what can be improved first. Other here have limited range of motion and I hope that they will join in the thread.
Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
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Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | I was told to keep opening my mouth as often as possible during and post Tx. When the pain got pretty bad I would allow myself to do a "controlled yawn" for lack of a better term meaning that I would yawn and try to open my mouth as far as I could. Since I was always tired yawning seemed to be a natural easy way to stretch my mouth. Whether this helped or not I have never had any opening issues to date.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
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Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 10,507 Likes: 7 | DDAH20:
Here is a post with info that may help you:
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment
Copy/paste it and put it in the search bar.
I recently asked both my oral surgeon and ENT of HBO would help with my trismus and unfortunately the answer from both was no.
Last edited by ChristineB; 06-12-2008 08:09 AM.
ChristineSCC 6/15/07 L chk & by L molar both Stag I, age44 2x cispltn-35 IMRT end 9/27/07 -65 lbs in 2 mo, no caregvr Clear PET 1/08 4/4/08 recur L chk Stag I surg 4/16/08 clr marg 215 HBO dives 3/09 teeth out, trismus 7/2/09 recur, Stg IV 8/24/09 trach, ND, mandiblctmy 3wks medicly inducd coma 2 mo xtended hospital stay, ICU & burn unit PICC line IV antibx 8 mo 10/4/10, 2/14/11 reconst surg OC 3x in 3 years very happy to be alive  | | | | | Joined: Jan 2007 Posts: 97 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Jan 2007 Posts: 97 | Hi- I have trismus, and have gotten great results using the Therabite (a device that helps you stretch your jaw). I've never heard of using hyberbaric oxygen, but I have heard of stretching under sedation. An oral surgeon mentioned this to me as an option- I could go under, and he would "stretch the heck" out of my jaw, and when I woke up it would be painful, but I would follow it up with aggressive stretching on my own with the Therabite. But the idea was, that he could stretch it much harder while I'm asleep than I can when I'm awake, and that extra part would give me a head start on my own stretching. The Therabite definitely works, but you have to commit to doing it and sticking with it. There is tons of information here in old posts about trismus, let me know if you are still here on the forum and I can help you find it. A good place to start would also be the trismus section of the main OCF site. http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/dental/trismus.htmMelissa | | |
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