Well I plan to keep the TMJ.  Both of them.

At least in my case the TMJ Syndrome cleared up completely within less than
a year.

Jo

depends on the cause and the irritant.  from what you've said about your
case, I suspect the muscles just hadn't fully reverted to their
pre-intubation state, though they had relaxed enough to feel good again.  
Something tensed them up again and kicked in your pain again.

Think of it as you would any muscle or tendon injury that requires PT - it
improves a lot, but you have to keep plugging away at it to some degree over
time to keep the improvement permanent.