Before I’d ever heard the term TMJ, I used to refer to my “crunchy jaw” when discussing my stress levels with friends and family. The tension in my jaw, the headaches, the clicking sounds and teeth grinding – which are all symptoms of TMJ – would come and go depending how wound up I was feeling from one week to another. But though some weeks were better than others, I largely felt as though the tightness in my jaw had always been there.
The more I read about TMJ, the more I started to understand that jaw tension isn’t usually something you’re born with. Your jaw might be painfull because of physical injuries and misalignments, which some people can experience from birth, but on the whole, your jaw usually starts to hurt because something has damaged it or because you’re experiencing high levels of stress.
