TMJ is a displacement of the jaw bone. TMJ can cause your jaw to click when opened, or lock (in the middle of a yawn) If you suffer from TMJ you may find eating painful, yawning makes you cry and kissing your significant other beyond just a peck on their cheek or lips is virtually impossible.

I suffered from TMJ from my junior high school days till I was in my 30’s. I just dealt with the pain in various ways, by taking aspirin, alternating heat and ice to my jaw joints, sleeping on a water-filled heating pillow. I also skipped dental appointments because the dentists I went to see would get so frustrated with me. I couldn’t open my mouth but two fingers wide. 

When I was thirty-five I had the surgery because I couldn’t deal with the pain any longer. The took a bone out of my forehead and fashioned two discs from it, took out my old corroded discs and replaced them with new ones.  When I woke up from the surgery my husband said I looked like a Doberman who had her ears cropped. I was bandaged all the way around my head, and two cones were inserted over my ears to catch the blood clots and the blood.
Although the surgery was unpleasant and the aftermath with the physical therapy put a new twist on the word torture, I am glad I had the procedure done.

If you put your fingers just above your ears, and open your mouth, you will feel this mandible joint. Opening your mouth and closing it slowly several times, you will feel the movement of the disc going into the joint. You should be able to also move this joint from side to side, unless you suffer from TMJ.

TMJ sufferers will not feel a smooth motion. They may feel a click of the bone, as the disc and the joint don’t quite meet in a normal fashion. Some may even experience pain when doing this exercise, or when pressing on that joint. They may find they have a headache at the end of the exercise.  Those people should see a doctor immediately. 

The movement should be fluid, and not clicky or become locked up. TMJ can be caused by a heavy blow, or a fall. For me, it took place in 7th grade when I tripped while running in from PE and fell on the asphalt splitting my chin. This was back in the 1960’s where little was known about TMJ and fancy imaging machines weren’t around. The doctors were more concerned in the stitches going into my chin, than to any further damage to my joints being done.