Know More About TMJ Disorder

Your jaw hurts. Actually, a lot of your body parts hurt, from your head, your temples, your neck, and your shoulders. You hear this strange popping, clicking, or grinding sound every time you open your mouth, and you can't even keep your mouth open for a long period of time because your jaw tends to feel tired easily for some strange reason. If you have all these symptoms, then you just might have TMJ syndrome. TMJ syndrome is what a lot of people tend to refer to as TMJ, which makes others wonder "What is TMJ?" TMJ is actually erroneously used to refer to TMJ disorder; actually, it refers to the temporomandibular joint. Any pain connected to that joint is called TMJ syndrome, TMJ pain, or TMJ disorder.

The temporomandibular joint is situated on either side of the jaw and is made of two parts--the mandible, or the lower part which is connected to your lower jaw, and the upper temporal bone, which is connected to your skull. In between these two bones is the articular disc. The entire joint helps move your mouth smoothly, whether you're simply opening and closing them, sliding or rotating your jaw around, among other various movements.

TMJ disorder hits you because of various reasons. It could be because of the improper alignment of teeth. It can also be due to direct impact to the jaw area, or even overuse of your mouth and jaw thanks to excessive gum-chewing, fingernail-biting, or grinding your teeth in your sleep. These activities can wear out the bones in your TMJ and may also cause the articular disc to slip, causing direct contact between the TMJ bones. The pain you feel from TMJ disorder, however, isn't due to the bones, which have no pain receptors, but rather because of the surrounding soft tissues in the area.

When suffering from TMJ disorder, it is always best to handle the pain first, taking pain medication, applying warm or cold compresses as needed, and working the jaw and the mouth as little as possible to prevent further harm. Naturally, you should also see your physician and find out which specialist you should go to in order to best address your TMJ syndrome.