TMJ: The Painful Story of a Joint Disorder

Client:

The Boston Phoenix

Audience:

General public

Goal:

Inform the public about temporomandibular joint syndrome, a debilitating and often difficult-to-diagnose disorder

Role:

Writing

The Massachusetts Dental Society 1987 Media Award, Honorable Mention

This is a tale of anguish. It is a story of people - women mostly - who suffer from a painful disorder and seek out one health-care professional after another in a search for an end to their pain. It is a story of misdiagnosis, of disagreement over the existence of a problem, of controversy over proper treatment, of some lives restored, others shattered by attempts to cure. This is a story about TMJ.

TMJ is shorthand for temporomandibular joint syndrome, a cluster of disorders affecting the jaw joints. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), one in five Americans have some symptoms of TMJ syndrome. Cracking, popping, and grating noises in the jaw. Pain in the jaw, teeth, or ears. Pain behind the eyes. Pain in the temples, neck, shoulders, back, arms, or legs. Limited movement of the jaw, dizziness, sinus problems, weakness, hearing problems, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth. All these symptoms and more have been linked to TMJ.