Jaw pain woman says NHS 'wants to leave me to die'

A woman who can only open her jaw 14mm wide and has lived in "constant pain for 30 years" has said she feels that the NHS "wants to leave her to die".

Mother-of-four Naomi Smith, 48, from Stroud in Gloucestershire, said the jaw pain had deteriorated to a point where she was "barely able to eat or drink".

Smith claims that despite receiving a diagnosis of severe temporomandibular joint disorder and jaw arthritis in 2025, her appointments and treatments at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital were repeatedly cancelled.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that they were continuing to investigate the issues raised.

Smith said she first started to experience jaw pain when she was 18 but only contacted her GP about her symptoms in 2015 when the pain began to spread throughout her body.

She was referred to several hospital departments but her condition continued to deteriorate.

Smith said she was only able to open her jaw by 14mm and she said that the left side of her face begins to droop by early afternoon, making it hard for her to speak.

She also lives with constant facial pain, migraines, dizziness and nausea and remains dependant on a liquid diet which she said had caused her to lose "three stone in a few months".

She said: "I have no quality of life and every day I wake up with extreme pain."

Smith said she was still waiting to be added to the NHS surgery list for an arthroscopy, a type of keyhole surgery for checking or repairing joints.

She said she had a meeting with a multidisciplinary team at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital but claims they have not followed up with her.

"In total I think I've had around 30 appointments cancelled over the last few months," she said.

"I've been in constant pain for 30 years.

"It's like the NHS wants to leave me to die."

A spokesperson from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are sorry to hear that Ms Smith continues to experience ongoing pain and the impact this is having on her quality of life.

"Ms Smith's case continues to be taken seriously.

"She has been seen by a number of consultants and has undergone investigations as part of ongoing efforts to better understand and address the symptoms of what is a complex clinical picture.

"We are aware that Ms Smith has raised concerns about aspects of her care.

"We continue to investigate the issues raised through our formal complaints process and will continue to work with Ms Smith to address her concerns."

Smith said she was hoping to raise £95,000 for a private bilateral jaw replacement - a surgery that involves replacing the joints between the lower jaw and the base of the skull.

She said the surgery "wouldn't make the pain in my whole body go away but it would mean I could finally eat and chew again, and it would mean the world to me".

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