Rob, I was on the same track that you were on, headed towards a lifetime of pain and possible surgery, and then I started trying various therapists. Most of them tried combinations of splinting, massage, electrical stim, etc. Finally I found a guy who had been very well-trained, and he created a daytime splint and a nighttime splint, and those did the trick. Now I'm completely pain-free.
It took a few months to get this point, but it was worth the effort. Now I don't even have to wear anything during the day, but still wear the nighttime splint to prevent nighttime bruxing and further damage to the enamel of my molars, as well as the TMJ's. Don't wait any longer to get some sort of nighttime splint to prevent the damage, otherwise you could end up in surgery, and that's a whole new bag of hurt. Splinting isn't cheap, but it's a lot more expensive to continue causing damage (unintentionally, of course). Make the investments as soon as possible, because the alternatives will be much worse. I do realize that TMJ therapy can be really expensive (mine cost thousands of dollars), but search online for cheaper sources of quality splints.
Best of luck to you!
