I had a miserable time with TMJ years ago, and wound up with an oral
surgeon. My dentist had warned me that I might need surgery, but the
oral surgeon asked me a lot of questions and suggested a few changes in
my lifestyle, which I made immediately. (no more parched corn ever,
no more unpopped popcorn kernels ever, no more gizzards for a few
months, add a warm cloth to my jaw joints every day for a month) It
all got better almost immediately! He also mentioned that if I
continued to play double reed instruments that TMJ would always be a
bit of a problem. I quit playing bassoon and oboe immediately, and
when the TMJ cleared up I decided the time was right to sell the silly
things, and have never regretted it one bit! (These days I play
tympani in the regional symphony instead.) At that time a lot of oral
surgeons jumped into surgery for TMJ. Last month I had occasion to
meet with another oral surgeon on a completely different matter, and we
talked about the TMJ problem I had had. He said surgery is seldom
needed and may not work anyway -- that adjusting some food and other
things is what is helpful. So --- see your dentist, and if you see an
oral surgeon, don't jump into surgery unless and until you have tried
other things! TMJ can be a royal pain, especially if your jaw sticks
open like mine did, but it doesn't have to be forever, and it can be
helped. (You're not a professional double reed player, I hope!)

Omelet wrote:
> Not off topic since it does affect chewing...
>
> I have it off and on and it's flaring up again. Gods it hurts! I think
> it's related to developing Osteoarthritis.
>
> Dammit, I'm too young for this. Anyone have any advice other than
> shitloads of Ibuprofen?
> --
> Peace, Om
>
> Remove _ to validate e-mails.
>
> "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson