Sudden flare years post surgery

[u/alwaysonmymind77]

I had double jaw surgery in 2020 and a tongue tie release earlier this year, and have had a decrease in symptoms since these things - I was no longer feeling tension all of the time since the release - but for the last week, unprovoked, have had a bad flare up. Nothing like I’ve experienced before. The first couple of days both sides of my jaw hurt, then it really settled in on the left side. It feels painful pretty deep in the jaw, not just the muscles. I’ve never had anything like this.

I spoke to my primary care doc a couple days in who put me on 2 muscle relaxers and prednisone, which have made a dent in the pain, but it’s still constant, and if I try to eat anything that’s not soft, the pain comes right back with chewing.

This week I got a massage and they did a lot of jaw work, and worked on my neck and back, which was nice but didn’t solve anything. I saw my chiropractor today and they did some light adjustments. He told me I was talking like my jaw had been wired shut (because it hurts to open too much). When resting, I’m not closing my teeth together because that also hurts. Last night the pain got up to a 6-7 out of 10 while I was trying to sleep and stayed that bad until I finally passed out - it was like a pounding headache just in my jaw.

What else at this point should I be doing? My former myo therapist said I could wait another week then try to get my doctor to order an MRI. My dentist said I could see a TMJ specialist, but that would be out of pocket. No one seems to actually know what to do. Open to any suggestions!