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[Valravn]

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Your temporomandibular joint is a hinge that connects your jaw to the temporal bones of your skull, which are in front of each ear. It lets you move your jaw up and down and side to side, so you can talk, chew, and yawn.

Problems with your jaw and the muscles in your face that control it are known as temporomandibular disorders (TMD). But you may hear it wrongly called TMJ, after the joint.

What Causes TMD?
We don’t know what causes TMD. Dentists believe symptoms arise from problems with the muscles of your jaw or with the parts of the joint itself.

Injury to your jaw, the joint, or the muscles of your head and neck -- like from a heavy blow or whiplash -- can lead to TMD. Other causes include:

Grinding or clenching your teeth, which puts a lot of pressure on the joint
Movement of the soft cushion or disc between the ball and socket of the joint
Arthritis in the joint
Stress, which can cause you to tighten facial and jaw muscles or clench the teeth

What Are the Symptoms?
TMD often causes severe pain and discomfort. It can be temporary or last many years. It might affect one or both sides of your face. More women than men have it, and it’s most common among people between the ages of 20 and 40.

Common symptoms include:

Pain or tenderness in your face, jaw joint area, neck and shoulders, and in or around the ear when you chew, speak, or open your mouth wide
Problems when you try to open your mouth wide
Jaws that get "stuck" or "lock" in the open- or closed-mouth position
Clicking, popping, or grating sounds in the jaw joint when you open or close your mouth or chew. This may or may not be painful.
A tired feeling in your face
Trouble chewing or a sudden uncomfortable bite -- as if the upper and lower teeth are not fitting together properly
Swelling on the side of your face

I know that i have TMD since a couple of years now. I try to massage the muscles when i amm in pain. It only helps temporarily. Do you have TMD? What do you do to relieve the pain and other symptoms?
Besides the pain and tension i find i really annoying when my bite is misaligned. I sleep with a hand under my pillow for some support. But when im sleeping i press my face to firmly in my pillow.

 

[Jag]

I have it. Don't know what to do except massage the area and take advil. Surgery is an option, but I've read it can make it better or worse, so that's a real last resort.

My dentist made me a bite guard for sleeping to stop clenching my teeth, but I find it too uncomfortable to sleep with.

 

[RockTurtle]

I have it. My goal is to fly to texas where this dds applies a special glue to your teeth and measures the electrical signals in your face until they pinpoint where your muscles are finally resting instead of constant tension.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCPoIDjjCFzKZbvQnX3BYlJw

This looks amazing. He posts videos of the procedure and the results.

 

[Pakkidis]

Jaws that get "stuck" or "lock" in the open- or closed-mouth position

This is the only problem I have. I never knew their was a medical term for this.

 

[KoruptData]

I have it. Don't know what to do except massage the area and take advil. Surgery is an option, but I've read it can make it better or worse, so that's a real last resort.

My dentist made me a bite guard for sleeping to stop clenching my teeth, but I find it too uncomfortable to sleep with.

This. Sleeping on my back helped to. When sleeping on my side, my jaw would slip left and right and grind my teeth really bad and cause bad headaches in the morning.

 

[Valravn]

This. Sleeping on my back helped to. When sleeping on my side, my jaw would slip left and right and grind my teeth really bad and cause bad headaches in the morning.

I tried that too, but i always woke up on my side.

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

I have it fairly bad. I've had it since my early-mid teens. I can control it to a degree with glucosamine+chondroitin, but that only goes so far.

Alcohol aggravates it, as does soda if I drink too much. Probably related to being dehydrated which causes the muscles to have more problems.

Sometimes when it gets really bad it locks up completely and feels like I have some wrestler crushing my skull with a palm on each side of my temples. It feels unbearable.

My jaw will click/pop/etc randomly when I'm talking/eating/whatever. I'll bite/chew my cheeks on accident, lips, tongue. Sometimes I've given my tongue a real nasty bite and had lots of blood fill my mouth.

So yeah, TMD/TMJ sucks balls.

And the surgery to "correct" it scares me.

 

[Valravn]

Alcohol aggravates it, as does soda if I drink too much. Probably related to being dehydrated which causes the muscles to have more problems.

Sounds familiar, when i drink alcohol i get a headache sometimes. And the muscles in my jaw will feel numb.
I tend to bite the inside of my cheeks and lips; mostly unaware.