Look up Wikipedia and see what it says about the pain! See a neurologist as I did and get a brain scan done. Tmi has ruined my life but I am not going to dwell on it. I have had different meds they cannot operate on me. I found methadone and that takes the awful pain away. It is an extremely debilitating condition and you must fight to get proper pain relief let me know how you get on
..

Get another opinion, I've lived with this since the mid eighties, people don't believe it can be that bad, good luck.

my first TMJ surgery was because my jaw was locked and 30 years ago no one knew any better. 8 surgeries and countless other procedures and treatments I have no jaw joints. Yeah, hardly any teeth. Any one with facial pain for any reason-take care of your teeth! I did, but when I got pregnant with my son I had to be put in the hospital and fed w/ a PIC line and could not eat or drink anything. I only could suck on hard candy-and even with me brushing my teeth ect. it destroyed them. He was worth it-most days anyway!
lol just kidding!! I wasn't supposed to even try to carry a baby so he is our miracle-taken early and being a little over 4 lbs he will be 13 next month and is around 5'8" at least. :-) anyway, back to teeth, I am amazed when a dentist actually suggested me to have dental implants. I had to laugh, heck I don't have bone that is strong enough to screw anything into! I can't stand the pain anyway. I currently have 2 teeth that are abscessed-they currently aren't painful, but I know it is going to happen but I am scared to death to have a root canal with the current pain meds I'm on-they won't do a thing. Pain doc I'm seeing won't listen or do a thing either-same story as alot of pain patients. I don't normally wear a bite plate anymore unless I am doing something where I will be jarred at all, or if I am majorly stressed and clenching.
Yes-I agree whole hearted-facial pain sucks-but hey! we look "normal". sorry, had to say it-I hear it all the time. :-O
Hope you all have a low pain day!

I had braces-twice-for TMJ only. 1st time was great and helped my pain, second time, not so much. I am on disability mainly due to my TMJ pain but also my neck and back. My pain meds barely take the edge off and make it possible to function-but hey-I look normal so I can't possibly hurt as much as I say! Both my jaw joints need replaced but at this point I do not trust the replacements on the market-they keep getting recalled and if I understand it correctly-I am too far gone for joint replacement at this point. They don't like to do them on people that have have multiple jaw surgeries. I would try to get a few opinions if possible and make sure they are very familiar with TMJ. Braces can make everything worse too. At this point my teeth are broken, missing, chipped, cracked and everything else from grinding so much. I grind through my bite plates or sometimes crack them. Watch out-doggies LOVE to chew bite plates-lol! my fur baby ;-( got one of mine I spit out one night. He always saw me put it in my mouth, thought it was food but thankfully just chewed it some and didn't eat it. He was happy he finally got what I alway was putting in my mouth!
Well, good luck-let me know if you need any info or can help u with ur TMJ. This is one thing I would not wish on my worse enemy. All the best to you-Kelley

I too have tmj ..Drs.want to put braces on ppl $$$
I have good teeth..bite is a bit off..so I wear a mouth guard at nite..becuz left jaw joint goes out of whack if I dont wear it..when I don't ..I have severe jaw pain.. earaches.. facepain.. knocks me flat on my back..so must wear guard ..don't forget !
..Specialist says its Arthritis of the jaw joint..careful what you chew..lockjaw hurts..Phsyio
To correct..is manuel manipulation & exercise with Therapist.. ..