Hi, my name is Jack. I'm 19 and live in the northwest of England.

Aroung 5 months ago (i forget the exact date) I woke up to a very strange clicking noise in my jaw and great tension in the area surrounding my TM joint. Ever since that day it has only got worse.

To cut a long story short after spending many many hours scouring the internet looking for answers, I came to the self diagnosis of a TMJ disorder. Eventually I managed to get an appointment with a facial surgeon who only confirmed with me what I already knew. He told me there was nothing that could be done to help my condition and that eventually it would go away with time.

Currently my symtoms are: a locking jaw when I wake up, tension in the muscles around my TM joint, neck and shoulder pain/tension, the common clicking jaw.

I have spent many hours of many days trying to think of a reason for this to start and I have concluded that it is most like due to a pretty bad crossbite. About a year ago I finished an orthodontic brace treatment wich left me with very nice straight teeth. I was given an upper and lower retainer to wear 24 hours that would eventually be reduced to night time wear only. However I got tired of wearing them and evetually stopped. After only a few days I could no longer get either of them back over my teeth. This didnt bother me though, there was no noticable change in my teeth and I was loving being brace free.

Now however I have noticed a very bad crossbite has developed. I believe this may be the reason my TMJ has started as when I close my teeth now, that is when i feel the most stress and strain. If I fix the crossbite will this help with my TMJ?

The only other reason I can think of for my TMJ starting is bad posture. My left shoulder ( also the side worst affected by TMJ ) is lower than my right shoulder. Could this be causing muscles to pull on my jaw?

Everyday i'm feeling more and more depressed by this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Appologies if I havent made certain things very clear, I feel I have rushed through writing this. But I am just very eager for quick answers.

Love & Peace
Jack.