Ok, what the heck is TMJ? I looked it up on the web and it stands for Temoromandibular Joint Disorder. Simplified, severe jaw pain. Not all jaw pain is TMJ. If you suddenly find your jaw aching, see your doctor. It could be a sign of serious health problems, including an on coming heart attack. That being said, I will get on with my tail of woes, including all the things I did wrong, and how I am now attacking the problem.

First things first: 
What I did wrong:

Self diagnosed: I grabbed my little bag of symptoms and struck out across cyberspace in search of the answer to what I was suffering from. (No doctor involved). If it had been a looming heart attack I would have been hooped.
 
Self medicated: The first thing I did was start taking an over the counter pain reliever coctail of 2 acetaminaphen and 2 ibuprophen, both extra strength. Not necessarily a bad thing once or twice, but I took this coctail every two to three hours for nearly a month. The affect on my stomach, bowels and sleep habits was horrible.
 
Treated the symptoms rather than the root cause: OK, so what's wrong with that? I kept the pain away and found a measure of comfort. For starters pain is your friend. Without it you would not know there is a problem, and when you use enough pain relievers to keep the pain away you have no way of knowing when you are cured. Secondly, the longer you just mask the symptoms without attacking the root problem, the longer you will have the problem and the more severe and dangerous it may become.

Attacking the Problem:

First, my symptoms and their progression:
The pain started as a dry crackling sensation in the area of my upper jaw and cheek, that felt like the start of a sinus infection. (I attacked it with colodial silver and mild saline nasal sprays.) It only got worse, so I hit it with decongestants. That made things even worse. 
Then it started to feel like a tooth ache. Since there was no apparent swelling, I assumed there was no absess. (again, a mistake. should have seen a doctor or dentist.) If you apply heat to an absess you could well pop it and spread infection through your body.
 
The pain progressed to a deep burning and throbbing throughout my entire jaw and left side of my face. It was so severe that at that point if I had figured gnawing my wife's leg off would ease the pain, she would have a serious limp today.

On to how I am fixing the problem...
 
First things first: back to the research.

I learned that TMJ is most likely caused by muscular or nervous tension that could be brought on by a number of things, including clenching your jaws habitually, grinding your teeth (often occurs in you sleep Your spouse or dentist can probably tell you if this is happening), poor jaw alignment caused by crooked teeth, badly aligned or worn dentures, missing teeth (I haven't had teeth for nearly 35 years, I'm guessing this would be the cause of my problem) or any number of habits and disorders. Your medical or dental professional can help you isolate the cause.

Attacking the problem:

I opted to try alternating hot and cold compresses every couple of hours, applied directly to the area of the worst pain. (Danger Will Smith! Danger! If the pain is in fact caused by something like an absess, tumor, or any number of things other than TMJ the application of heat will likely put you at serious risk. Let your doctor determine this)
After applying a bean bag that I heated in the microwave to the side of my face for 5 minutes I then applied a cloth that I wet under the cold water tap for 5 minutes. I repeated this several times throughout the day and just before going to sleep at night. I took no pain pills.

Day One:

Throughout the day the pain continued even after the compresses were applied, but it got less severe with each application. That night I slept comfortably for about two hours until the pain woke me. I repeated the applications and slept in 2 hour bites through the night, repeating the compresses each time I woke up. It wasn't a really good night, but it was no worse than when I was using the drug coctail. I woke up the next morning feeling considerably less groggy and much better rested for having stopped the pills.

Day 2:

I spent most of the day just napping and applying the compresses. There was constant low level discomfort throughout the day, but no sever pain. That night I repeated the procedure just before going to sleep and slept through the night without pain. I woke up barely aware of the problems I had been suffering.

Day 3:

That would be today. There is no pain yet, but I will continue the treatment for a few more days, then stop it and see if the problem returns. Please check back for updates.

Some Cautionary Notes:

I was lucky, not smart! I've found relief and haven't died. If you believe your jaw pain is caused by TMJ or another muscular or nervous disorder please use the link below to download a printer friendly copy of this post and take it to your doctor. Have him or her read it. You will avoid some of the mistakes I made if you attack your condition in consultation with your medical professional. I may sound like I am nagging about the doctor thing, but he is a vital part of any diagnosis or treatment.
One serious mistake I made was thinking that if the problem is from muscle tension, adding a muscle relaxant(robaxiset) to the coctail would help. Result: I immediately felt like I had swallowed a can of lighter fluid with a lit match chaser. Your MD knows what drugs to mix.