For those that don’t get it, see the images below.
What Is TMJ? TMJ stands for a big word: “Temporomandibular Joint.”
This is the itty bitty joint that connects the top of your skull to your jaw bone. This joint is surrounded by nerves, muscles, and ligaments. It’s responsible for any movement with your face. When something goes wrong – muscle problems, ligament tears, jaw fracture, etc… that joint can be overworked to the point where it doesn’t really work well anymore. This is called TMJD, or: “Temporomandibular Joint DYSFUNCTION.”
However, pretty much everyone just calls it “TMJ.” I nabbed this photo online, but made sure to use one that had a watermark to credit the artist.
It can disfigure your face a little bit. Hence the joke.
There’s a reason my text layout includes the little dots and extra paragraph breaks. If you’re interested in the reason behind this, I explained it here.