Hi, I want to thank everyone on here for being so open and honest about what they’re dealing with. It makes me feel less alone.
My jaw started clicking and popping about a year ago and once or twice would lock closed completely only to crunch open seconds later.
I went to a dentist and was told about TMJ disorder and to “try yoga and less stress”.
Then a few months ago I saw some advice online about simply moving your jaw forward to align your teeth when you can. This helped MASSIVELY and my jaw never popped or clicked like that.
One day though, I woke up and it suddenly locked on the left but felt a little lower than the previous locks and wasn’t as tight or severe. I lay down with a hot compress and slept for a couple hours and it went away.
A month ago it happened again on the left. I couldn’t open my jaw more than a finger-width or move to the right. I’ve been waiting for a TMD specialist appointment which isn’t until June. Slowly I’ve had minimal improvement each day and now I can move slightly to the right, I can move my jaw backwards and forwards and open it to a little more than two finger-widths.
But then my progress stopped. It’s very painful and I can’t chew properly or open my mouth wide (yawns are agony and I have to hold my mouth closed) but there is still a fair amount of movement.
Is this the joint or the muscle? What can I do while I wait for the specialist?
Thank you again :)