You can have muscle spasms, poping, clicking and since it effects everyone differently you can have different symptoms with it. usually its caused by trauma, stress, a dentists visit gone bad, malocclusion, sometimes braces, skeletal deformity etc. I think that since you say it aches you have a muscle problem. have you had any traumatic accidents or anything like that? what treatments are you planning on following? If you need help finding a good doctor just let me know.(im not that far away from you! im in idaho) If you ever need anything let me know--questions etc just pop me an email or pm and ill get right back to you. hang in there. sometimes it may look bleak but there is hope. im living proof of that.

thanks.. Mines mostly been stress.. my dentist thinks i might have slept on it wrong as well. well i've had traumatic injuries but not to my mouth or jaw.. Well they gave me a list of things no hard foods, no gum, hot and cold compresses, rest and they gave me muscle relaxers and a mouth guard for when i sleep so far. I dont have the insurance to do much more.. they hope it will heal they want me to come back in 3 weeks they will check me then. thanks i will keep that in mind i probably will have questions since this is all new to me i just know it hurts.. Oh is it normal.. my teeth are sore after one night of wearing the mouth guard.. i might need to call my dentist on monday. thanks this isnt the first time i've had to fight through something but it helps having someone thats gone through it as well

also try to limit your stress as well.

I have had traumatic injuries--but not to the jaw as well. every thing is connected and effects everything. I got hit by a car at age 14--i was hit just above my left knee. I landed in a sitting possition. Its possible that your traumatic injuries did not effect you the way it did me. my uncle fell 50 feet and broke his jaw in 2 places. he doesnt have tmd. so its all possible.

do contact me if you have questions or need anytnhing

jeez.. i was run off the road well riding my bike i flipped the handle bars and slide 3 feet on the black top. its possible i might have done something i did black out for alittle bit.. I remember the guy stopped long enough to laugh and ask if i needed an ambulance then sped off.. i dont know how long i laid there but i got up and walked home i was in so much pain i dont know from where exactly.. um i also been thinking the last couple days.. i had 5 teeth pulled and they wrenched on my lower jaw it seemed alot.. could that be part of it i know for almost a year it popped alot and was sore.. hurts to open my mouth to wide stuff like that.

Please read my response to the other submission, I detailed my experience.
I forgot to mention that I too have tinnitis, barely noticeable until recently, which is one of the reasons why I am back on the hunt to see if something else is wrong with me! When I first was diagnosed with tmj, I spent almost a year eating soft foods, and it worked! I am not a good disciplined eater; but this was easy. just overcook your pasta a little, eat milkshakes, almost anything you want, but avoid chewing hard, take smaller bites, etc. Do not bite into a whole apple, or hard candy. this really helped me a lot. When my tmj acts up, I try to do this again.
dm

well that would do it--both those instances. just treat the jaw like you would a sprained ankle. go to soft diet, ice it put heat on it etc. hang in there.

and what a jerk. the guy that hit me got out and blamed the whole thing on me. i was a pedestrian and i had the right of way.

Thanks Trust. i am on a soft food diet for now i blend most the foods that i normally would eat and avoid others i cant. i have been icing it and using heat pad also my problem is i keep spitting out my mouth guard lol.. i find it on my beside table or at the end of my bed in the blankets i'm not use to it yet.. But things are ok still sore and it keeps locking alittle but all in all its feeling better..

I still wish i would have said yes he would have had to stay there maybe anyways he was a jerk