Temporomandibular disorder (TMJ)

For a lay person:

Temporomandibular disorder is pain and stiffness in the jaw joint and chewing muscles. It may cause clicking, limited mouth opening, headaches and earache.

For a trained medical person:

Myofascial pain, disc displacement and arthralgia of the temporomandibular joint, often linked to bruxism and stress. Management: education, soft diet, jaw exercises, splints and analgesia.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Wind, cold and phlegm obstructing the network vessels; Wind, heat and phlegm obstructing the network vessels; Liver Fire Blazing; Exuberant fire of the heart and stomach; Liver wind stirring internally; Qi and Blood Deficiency; Q ideficiency and blood stasis; Food Stagnation; Roundworms harassing internally; Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.