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November 29, 2011

Laurie Violi suffered for two decades with excruciating pain in her jaw that went straight to her head.

"I had such bad headaches and I couldn't sleep at night," Violi said.

She's one of about 10 million people living with the temporomandibular joint disorder or TMJ.

"The chewing muscles that you have... They swell up, OK, and they have inflammation in them and the reason usually is because of a clenching or grinding problem," explained Dr. Salomon Maya of Maya Dental.

Violi tried mouth guards and even had her teeth shaved down. She finally got relief when her dentist used Botox.

"It's by far the best thing," Violi said.

The doctor injects 10 to 12 areas around Violi's jaw and face every three or four months.

"When you inject it into the jaw muscle, you are relaxing that muscle," Maya said.

Botox is FDA approved to treat wrinkles, migraines and eye muscle disorders, but it's still being studied for the treatment of jaw pain. And that means insurance doesn't cover it. Violi pays about $400-$500 for each session.

"It's changed my life completely," she said.

Violi says it's worth it to finally find something that eases her pain.

Doctors recommend people with TMJ try other traditional treatments first like mouth guards, hot and cold packs, and eating soft foods.