LeAnn Rimes Has Surgery On Mouth And Jaw To Treat TMJ

By: Pat Prescott
02/07/2012 02:55 PM ET

LeAnn Rimes had minor oral surgery to help relieve severe pain in her jaw after suffering from Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) and only when pain meds didn’t work.

A rep for LeAnn Rimes confirms that the surgery is from a real health issue and not cosmetic as stated in earlier reports.

The country singer posted on her Twitter account Friday, “K, coming clean…I had minor surgery this week and I’ve been in SO much pain it’s not even funny.”

Adding in case anyone wondered if it was plastic surgery, “Nothing major just annoying! Pain pain go away!!!!!! When it’s mouth pain and jaw pain it makes your whole head pound! YUCK.”

By Saturday her pain had finally started going away, she tweeted again, “The pain is subsiding finally for a moment, My head has been vibrating all day. Maybe the sand under my feet is helping.”

TMJ affects the joint that connects the mandible to the skull. Swelling in the joint can cause paining in the surrounding teeth, muscles, bones, nerves, and can also affect the ear.

The disorder can be caused by a number of different things, the one though that appears to be what caused Rimes condition, is grinding or clinching of the teeth. She wrote in one Tweet, “I’m good I just clench and that hurts.”

Source: Leann Rimes Surgery