“I have no pain in my jaw for the first time in years, thanks to Apex Clinic”
22 year old Optical Assistant Chloe Boyd from Belfast was suffering from severe, daily jaw pain. Chloe had tried various exercises to cure the constant jaw pain and clicking but with no relief and thinking that this was something she was going to have to live with, she heard about Apex Clinic. With nothing to lose and desperate to get to the source of the problem she decided to give it a go. Here, she shares how the clinic’s unique regime of specialist manual physiotherapy treatment, called The Nelson Jaw Approach™, cleared her jaw pain, meaning that she could finally get her life back on track.
Chloe, when did your jaw pain begin?
My jaw pain first began at the end of school, just over 5 years ago. It initially began with clicking when eating and then it began to get worse and the clicking started happening when I was talking or even if I yawned. In the last couple of years my jaw pain started getting more severe and I was suffering jaw pain daily.
How did the pain affect your life?
The pain really did affect my daily life. I was constantly thinking about what I was going to eat. I am a big fan of Italian food and I couldn’t eat pizza due to my jaw clicking and the pain. I was very self-conscious as I worried that other people could hear the clicking that I was experiencing. I am also a very animated person with my facial expressions when I speak and my jaw pain started to affect and limit how I communicated as I was in such severe pain. I was often close to tears which is very out of character for me.
What led you to Apex Clinic?
I tried to do exercises which I had found online to help with my jaw pain but no matter how often I did them or how regularly, they made no difference to the pain. It was my brother who told me about Apex Clinic after he had attended himself and he was very pleased with the treatment he had received and the relief that it had brought him. In June I contacted Apex Clinic and made an appointment for an initial assessment and began my treatment with my specialist physiotherapist, who talked me through the process and was very clear on explaining what we would be targeting and how long it would take. This was great as I was so uncertain at the beginning and this reassured me.
How has your life changed since having treatment?
Since having treatment my life has changed massively. This has been the longest period of time that I can remember, for years that I haven’t had jaw pain or clicking. I can now eat the foods I want and don’t need to stay away from any trigger foods which would have caused me severe jaw pain in the past. I can now eat pizza again! I also don’t have to worry about my jaw clicking when I am brushing my teeth, it is great. I am so happy to be free of jaw pain and clicking.
What advice would you offer someone suffering from jaw pain?
Definitely try Apex Clinic. The staff are all fantastic from the reception staff to the specialist physiotherapists, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. I had almost given up and accepted that my jaw pain couldn’t be fixed and thought that it was something I was going to have to deal with but since attending Apex Clinic I am now pain free and realise how much my jaw pain was affecting my daily life. I would definitely say give it a go as it has been so worthwhile for me.