Back-story:

Last Summer I was playing baseball, and I somehow wound up getting hit in the jaw. All that it caused was a bit of swelling, which went away within a couple days. All is well for months, until one day I wake up and the left side of my jaw has begun to "pop". As I didn't know what it was at the time, I began to move my jaw around to see if it would continue, and it did. So I just kept doing it, which eventually just aggravated it even more and caused it to become louder.

I soon realized that was a bad thing, so I tried to stop. Problem was, sometimes in the morning when I woke up, my entire left jaw would be locked. I would only be able to open it up no more than an inch, as the strain was so harsh I was scared to do it any more. After moving my jaw with my hands for a bit, I was able to sort it out. Fortunately, that hasn't happened too often.

Not long after that, I was enjoying a particularly firm meal, when all of a sudden I hear a large *POP*. I lose the ability to open my jaw properly, as it seems to have become locked. Pain. Lots of pain. I am not able to open my jaw without pain. Chewing is certainly no longer an option. Well, stupidly enough I don't go to a doctor and just ride it out for the next couple days. If I moved it around in a certain way, I would be to open it slightly, but that was it. After about a week of pain and jaw lock, it eventually went back to the original small popping. Though I noticed one difference. My teeth were slightly misaligned to the side on my lower jaw. That last bit happened about a month ago.

Being that there is no pain, nor any kind of headaches or discomfort, it really isn't that big of an issue. It's really just slightly scary for my jaw to pop, even if it is very slightly, and to see my lower jaw misaligned. I was wondering if there was perhaps a way to correct this? I have read about jaw splints, but some people say they aren't too effective, and they are also quite expensive.

Any kind of help, exercises, information, whatever, would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.