"Left feeling unheard"

I was not seen by the doctor on the letter, instead I was seen by a young doctor. I explained my symptoms and how my life was being affected and how depressed I was getting, I'm a 40 year old woman who has lost intimacy with my husband of 15 years, I can't kiss him or have any other kind of intimacy due to issues with my jaw and it's affecting our relationship. The doctor felt my jaw, felt and heard it click once and made an immediate diagnosis. The doctor informed me that there was nothing which could be done to fix the issue my only hope was to work to try to prevent it getting worse, I have to never yawn, eat a soft food diet, avoid opening mouth too much, and try to stop talking, I have to do this for the rest of my life, this is no way for me to live.

When I re-emphasised my issues with my husband and how my jaw issues were making me feel and getting me down, the doctor said that I wasn't the only one that lived with this others do and the doctor can sometimes have a clicking jaw. I was left feeling unheard, feeling invisible and like a number, just a statistic, another person in and out of the clinic and was made to feel like at 40 year old I was too be put on a shelf, I was made to feel like I had to live my life as an elderly woman. This young doctor has a lot to learn about patient care.