'I have the same jaw condition as Zoe Ball, it left me eating only blended food for two years'

A woman suffering from a rare degenerative jaw condition is in excruciating pain and can only eat blended foods.

Lauren Bolton, 29, suffers from "locked jaw" - a condition which affects the movement of her jaw, ears, and temple and leaves her in excruciating pain.

The condition, temporomandibular joint disease, which she shares with broadcaster and presenter Zoe Ball, means she is can only consume soups and meal replacement shakes, and even talking leaves her in agony.

Laure, from Helmshore, in Rossendale, hopes to escape the pain and suffering by undergoing a surgery. The operation costs £95,00 and is only performed by a handful of surgeons in the UK, so she is currently fundraising in order to raise money for the op.

READ MORE: Depression 'can cause period pain', and sleeplessness could also play a role

The 29-year-old said: “The pain is never not there. If I don't eat or talk and keep on top of pain medication it is more manageable, but it is always there - from the second I open my eyes in a morning to the second I fall asleep, it is exhausting.”

She first started experiencing issues with her jaw when she was 15. and her condition has continued to deteriorate ever since. She now has to take a "cocktail" of drugs every day. Lauren takes more than 20 different pills including Codeine, Tramadol, and Naproxen.

She said: “I experience swelling, agonising pain and dizziness if I talk a little too much that day, it is no way to live. There have frequently been times where I've just wished someone would offer me the lethal injection.

“It is hard to put into words how severe the pain can get. I spend my nights getting heat packs, pain medication, or just sitting in a scorching hot shower with the water on my face to get any kind of relief.”

Lauren was working in her dream job as a therapist but has since had to put her career on hold as she is in so much pain.

She had plans to undertake doctorate level training in forensic psychology, but this dream has also had to be shelved.

Lauren's mum Denise, 56, and dad Paul, 53, work full-time as a nurse and technical director respectively, but have to take Lauren to doctors appointments, sometimes at the drop of a hat, with Lauren unable to drive.

Mum Denise said: "It's heartbreaking to watch her suffer each and every day and then she's up and down throughout the night - somedays she can't even get out of bed."

Lauren said: “I have gone from being such a driven, academic girl to a complete shell of who I once was because of this condition. I have not been able to work for months now, that has been really tough mentally and emotionally.

"My job means everything to me, and I have studied so hard to be where I am."

Lauren has been fundraising for private surgery to replace her jaw joint as the current waiting time to have the procedure on the NHS is three years.

Without the operation, Lauren says she fears she “won’t have a future.”

“I really dread to think where I'd be without surgery in 12 or 18 months’ time it's a really scary thought,” she said.

Lauren says the response to her fundraiser and story has been “phenomenal” and she has already raised more than £62,000 of the £95,000 needed to go private. She said: “Being ill and in chronic pain is incredibly lonely, I can't put into words how small and dark my life has been because of this condition. This is more than just my story - Temporomandibular joint disorders are not well understood or well managed and the long-term results are horrendous.

“I have had so many messages from people either where I am now or where I was a few years back.

"It is heartbreaking to think so many other people are living the way I have been forced to.”