What Is TMJ?

TMJ. You may have heard about it from a friend, or read about it in a magazine, possibly your doctor has suggested that you might have it. What is TMJ anyway? What are the symptoms and issues that face a person who suffers from this syndrome?

TMJ is short for he temporomandibular joint. This joint is the joint that connects your jawbone with your skull bone. It is the one that lets you move your jaw up and down and side to side. Both top and bottom of this joint are covered in cartilage and have a small disc for shock absorbing.

In most cases people live their lives never aware of what this joint is or how it works. Unfortunately for a growing number of people, though, this joint is on their minds daily. The TMJ syndrome is caused when some part of the joint is damaged or malformed so that it does not work correctly. In some an actual piece of their jawbone is missing, so the ball and socket joint no longer stay in place like they should. When stressed or overworked, the muscles surrounding this joint give out and the jaw will become displaced. Many times the joint then becomes inflamed and gets pushed even further out of alignment. This is what TMJ syndrome is.

Often a clear TMJ symptom is when you hear a clicking noise in the jaw when it’s opened wide and closed. Other times the actual bone isn’t aligned properly, the muscles get inflamed, and sever pain results. Intense headaches and jaw pain often results from the TMJ being out of place.

If you have had problems like this, or if you know a friend who does, then consult your doctor or dentist for a proper diagnosis. Living with pain like this is no fun, and you should see what could be done to alleviate it. There are many ways to manage the disorder, but there is no real way to cure it unfortunately. Any who are selling a TMJ cure are probably lying. Check other articles on our website to learn how you can manage the pain, and what TMJ treatments are viable options.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 12:09 am and is filed under Syndrome. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.