It’s time to finally share why I’ve been visiting doctors so often — and for so long.

It all started years ago, probably around fifth grade. From then until my first year of university, I chewed through a full pack of gum every single day.

Literally, every day.

One cold winter Saturday morning, while lying on a yoga mat and wondering why on earth we had an 8 a.m. class on a Saturday (cruel and unusual punishment for students, honestly), I yawned — and suddenly heard my jaw crack.

That was the beginning of everything going downhill. Pain. Inflammation. I couldn’t eat properly. After some scans and a visit to the dentist, the diagnosis was clear — TMJ osteoarthritis, joint degeneration. There was no going back, only managing the damage.

For years, I handled it on my own. When the pain came, I’d take a painkiller and move on. But recently, it got worse — and this time, I got angry enough to act.

I found a specialist in TMJ disorders and heard something that really scared me: the inflammation had spread into my ear canal. Turns out the partial hearing loss in my right ear wasn’t a coincidence after all. And if left untreated, I could go completely deaf within a few years. The inflammation had even begun on the left side.

The treatment will be long, expensive — but I don’t have a choice.

First, I need updated scans (CBCT and MRI), then wisdom tooth removal. After that, I’ll wear custom dental splints to align my jaw, followed by braces to fix my bite.
Since I’m currently in Belarus, I decided to do the scans here — it’s way cheaper than in Warsaw, where prices are 3–4 times higher.

So far, I’ve done the CBCT scan, my MRI is scheduled for tomorrow, and today I had one wisdom tooth removed.

Next step: back to Warsaw for a consultation and diagnostics using specialized equipment. Only then will I get a full picture of what’s going on with the joint and what needs to happen next.