Hi
Does anyone have trismus? and has it effected there eating? I have tried to get my mouth to open wider but I can't I can only get two fingers in it. It is frustrating and once I am able to eat better I do not think I will be able to do sandwiches.

Hi Karen. I have severe trismus with only having my mouth open at max almost a pinky finger wide. Eating is a big challenge. Consider yourself very very fortunate to be able to open 2 fingers wide. That is my goal thru much physical therapy to get to that level. You will see progress if you do stretching exercises several times daily with the therabite or tongue depressors. Best of luck with this issue.

Katrina
Trismus is a challenge, more so the second time around for me. First even now my Trismus is mild compared to what many posters here suffer. So have you measured yours or has the dentist or speech therapist? Important to get a baseline so you can track progress
My first Trismus started in October thru December of 2007 after all the radiation and chemotherapy. It wasn't too bad at first, but suddenly came back harder in January 2008 and I had to do the exercise religously that entire year or I could see and feel my mouth closing. Now after the cancer came back and surgery in March 2009, the Trismus is much worse -down to 21 mm (just shy of two fingers. Luckily for me, my nearest local hospital has a cancer center (not a CCC though) that donated Therabite Jaw stretching devices to it's speech therapy department. I have been using that and in my mind there is no comparison to the old Popsicle sticks and tongue depressers I had been using. The Therabite is almost fun, with it's high tech look and overall "tool" vibe - perfect for guys . Their web site says Medicaid covers some of the cost as do many insurance companies. Check it out.
On a great day, the Therabite has stretched me out o a full 26mm. Progress is slow and a gain of 1 mm a week is considered very good,
Last but not least, if you have not read this, then click on the link and read the OCF home page info on Trismus - best on the web TRISMUS -OCF
best wishes and good luck We are all in this together

There are two devices for sale that may be able to help you improve your situation with some work on your part. The article mentioned above discusses at lest one of them.

I suffer from trismus, I am just shy of getting two fingers in and eating is difficult, but not impossible. Most of my eating troubles are caused by my facial paralysis and partial tongue paralysis and not how wide my mouth opens. I've found different ways of fitting food into my mouth. I eat sandwiches by squishing them very thin, same as burgers and such.

My trismus was much worse before they did my mandiblectomy, I couldn't fit one finger in and couldn't eat at all. Now my issues eating is how fatigued my mouth gets trying to eat and swallow the food. Because of these issues I still get most of my nutrition from Ensure Plus and try to eat solid foods at least 1 time a day.

On special occasions I hit McDonald's and have a cheeseburger for Jim and Christine, this usually happens after a good Dr.'s appointment as the nearest McD's is an hour away from my home in BFE.

Hi
Thanks for the advice I have a therabite but progress is real slow my doctor complains about not opening my mouth wide enough to do certain surgeries. I am at 21mm I know it will never be normal again but I got to keep on trying
Kathy

Treating Trismus with Dynamic Splinting: a Cohort, Case Series
David H. Schulman, PT; Barry Shipman, DMD; F. Buck Willis, PhD

ABSTRACT
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the effect of the Dynasplint Trismus System (DTS; Dynasplint Systems Inc, Severna Park, Md, USA) for patients
who were recently diagnosed with trismus following radiation therapy, dental treatment, oral surgery, or following a neural pathology such as a stroke.
Methods: We reviewed 48 patient histories (treated in 2006�2007), matched in cohort groups(radiation therapy for head/neck cancer, dental treatment, oral surgery, or stroke), to measure the efficacy of this treatment�s modality. Patients were prescribed the DTS after diagnosis of trismus based on examination that showed <40 mm maximal interincisal distance. The DTS uses lowload, prolonged-duration stretch with replicable, dynamic tension to achieve longer time at end
range (of motion). Each patient used this device for 20�30 min, 3 times per d.
Results: This cohort case series showed that there was a statistically significant difference within all patient groups (P<0.0001; t=10.3289), but there was not a significant difference between groups (P=0.374).
Conclusion: The biomechanical modality of DTS with a low-load, prolonged-duration stretch was attributed to the success in reducing contracture in this study. This improved range of
motion, allowing patients to regain the eating, hygiene and speaking patterns they had before developing trismus.

I still suffer from Trismus as well but am still working on the problem. Back in December 2008 I was at 15mm but when I had my checkup at the end of March I was up to 20 to 21mm. My Oral Surgeon was more excited than me and thought that I had made great progress in just 3 months. I am using the device from Dynasplint but have to admit I do not find myself using it for 30 minutes per day x 3 as recommended. My OS seems to think I will be pretty much fully functional if I can get opened to 30mm and that will be my goal. I understand that normal is about 45 to 50mm for an adult male.

Bill D.