What Is TMJ Syndrome

What is TMJ? Is it something to be scared of? TMJ means Temporomandibular Joint and it’s the one that connects your jawbone with your skull. This joint is found near each ear and helps you eat, speak and make facial expressions.

When these joints fail to function as planned you may experience chronic ear pain, stiffness throughout your jaw, some difficulties and pain when you open your mouth and not to mention it clicks whenever you open and close it. There are indeed muscles, ligaments and nerves that surround the sides of the facial area. Sharp pains could be associated with this TMJ Disorder but usually, they are medically classified under these categories: Myofacial pain, internal joint derangement and inflamed joint disease.

As a result of the TMJ pain and misalignment of the jaw, sufferers from TMJ often experience debilitating headaches and migraines. Even doing everyday things like smiling and talking can become difficult and even painful. It is important that you get a good diagnosis for exactly what kind of TMJ disorder you have in order for you to learn how best to treat it. There is no real cure for TMJ, but there are plenty of ways you can treat TMJ and alleviate the majority of the pain.

In order to fully determine which of the mentioned classifications of TMJ Disorder is being experienced by a patient, the first person to go to is the Dentist. They are trained individuals who can diagnose neuromuscular abnormalities. Aside from them, it would be advisable to visit an Otolaryngologist. This is a physician who specializes in ENT or ear, nose and throat conditions.

Once a person is diagnosed to have TMJ, sad to say he won’t be able to chew gum or even break a jawbreaker since you have to bring him to the emergency room to ease his pain. This disorder is not to be associated with lock-jaws since that is one of the prevalent symptoms of Tetanus. Your specialist will outline a course of treatment for your TMJ.

Medical experts have identified TMJ by observing the patient upon waking up in the morning and also upon retiring to bed at night. Why is this so? There is one facial movement that is prevalent during these times: yawning. Since TMJ is caused by dysfunctioning joints, involuntary yawning can trigger it. Just imagine hearing a pop caused by the misaligned jaw. Closing it involuntarily too will cause immediate excruciating pain.

Just when does a person acquire this disease? Well, it would be a lot better to call it a dysfunction or a disorder since it does not stem from eating fatty food, sugar-infused beverages and the like. Although the medical industry has classified TMJ dysfunction as a disease, then so be it. The joint from the side of each ear going down to the jaw line is what you call the Temporo-mandibular joint. Stiffness, swelling and misalignment may originate from a rough punch or even a severe collision.

A person suffering from a TMJ Disorder can still actually live a normal life. It is not life-threatening like other disorders such as Narcolepsy and Epilepsy where they can injure themselves and other people as well in bouts of frenzied seizure or having to fall asleep while driving.

People could live with the popping sound, if was only that. Many guys have been punched in the face and have clicking jaws as a result, but the other symptom of this TMJ are a little unmanly to display – soreness, inflammation or swelling, headaches, migraines, and inability to eat tough foods like steak.

Unfortunately TMJ disorders are chronic ailments, meaning the person can have it forever. There is no simple cure and reaching out for an ice pack to relieve the swelling will offer no help at all since, aside from the muscles, it is the joint that is being targeted here. Deep treatment and lifestyle adjustments are often what is required to treat serious cases.

An outsider may think that the person suffering from a TMJ may have woken up from the wrong side of the bed or or is just being cranky and unkind since people who suffer from TMJ appear to be healthy and normal. Daily things which most people consider normal like smiling, laughing, chewing gum, and anything related to the jaw muscles can be extremely painful to do.

That is what separates TMJ Disorder patients from others. There is no tell-tale sign that they’re undergoing severe pain but sometimes there is a catch - once they involuntarily open their mouths to yawn, they can’t shut it that quickly. It gets stuck in that position. More often than not, aside from the embarrassment, excruciating pain often comes with it. You can just imagine an open-mouthed person trying to wince in pain.

This embarrassing situation that they experience doesn’t stop there. As common with other disorders, depression is prevalent. They would rather alienate themselves from people just to escape being ridiculed, laughed at or considered as incompetent due to a disorder. You know how society gets right? There even comes a time when these people who suffer from different disorders just wished other people would experience what they are experiencing just to cut the talking.

As youngsters, didn’t your parents always say that an apple a day keeps all the doctors away? Well, if they knew you had the TMJ Disorder since you were younger they would understand why you hated apples since it’s impossible for you to take a large open-mouthed bite. When even smiling becomes painful, many tend to take it the wrong way. So if you know somebody who does suffer from this disorder, show some sympathy, you will find it is much appreciated.