I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. I definitely believe that the blow from dd set off the problem. You don't necessarily have the typical tmj that most of us get because most tmj is caused by grinding and clenching. Then there are others who develop jaw problems (muscle, ligaments, disc or bones) by other reasons (injuries, wisdom teeth pulled, etc.) tmj is a very complicated disorder and most people only hear about the popping, headaches and pain, etc. But an injury like yours would cause different symptoms and more than likely you would need different treatments.

The degeneration that is shown of your disc is actually not all that abnormal. Many people have similar problems as the jaw disc is the most used cartilage joint in the body (eating & talking). Studies have even shown that even when an mri shows a disc out of joint, the patients has absolutely no symptoms of tmd and vice versus. I told you it was complicated.

In your situation, all your research could very well mean something, but also not mean anything (don't get mad at me). But I say this because right now I think you need to concentrate on fixing the pain in the joint and getting your mouth opening more. It sounds like the pain specialist may have done all he knows how to and you might try a tmj specialist or a different pain doctor. My tmj specialist has put shots directly into my joint. That could help you. I also think that continuing physical therapy but changing the focus to getting your mouth opening without pain. I don't know if that means going to a different pt or the same one.

I also apologize for writing so much. You are a complicated case mostly because your problems were "caused" by an injury. Caused isn't the right word but i'm not sure what other word to use. For now, I would use lots of moist heat directly on the joint and surrounding muscles, eat only a soft diet (no gum or ice chewing), continue pt (or massage therapy), and maybe see a tmj specialist.

Oh, i'm also going to suggest something that you might try that I normally do not suggest. That is to see a chiropractor. Over my long tmj years, I have only found one chiropractor who helped so i'm always hesitant, but I do think that if your neck is worked on, it might help. But chiros always seem to want to work on your back and I don't allow that after one chiro would crack my back every visit and my back just started to hurt and didn't help my tmj at all. The one good chiro only worked on my neck and massaged inside my mouth for a few seconds. Actually, if you could find a pt or mt who could massage inside your mouth that might be your absolutely best bet. Sheesh, I should have thought about that at the beginning of the posting.

Well, I hope anything I have said can help.
Carol