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Author Topic: Jaw misery  (Read 4727 times)

Dorothy Gale

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Jaw misery
« on: December 01, 2023, 05:20:53 PM »

I'm learning fast to NEVER say in perimenopause ....'it can't get any worse surely?'........(sorry in advance for the long rant)

So, some of you might have seen my thread about painful/full pressure ears and tinitus and pain in side of face....(still happening)

.....long story short......had it all checked. Nothing shows. Nurse did see an ear infection 4 weeks ago but ENT said not now....could be a jaw issue. Dentist no idea either really. Useless.

This week...the jaws have become much more involved. The left one has become one that clicks in and out all the time and become very noisy... when I bite down I catch my cheek as its misaligned....I have to stretch jaw to make it less so....

My jaw joints feel so tired and ache and like they are just worn out...they crunch and click and they ache to chew, talk....only eating soft food as I can't do any other type...

Cheeks hurt, muscles in them feel sore..if I over stretch or try to yawn or move my jaw around....they throb...and hurt and face feels even more achy and the ear pain/fullness gets worse when muscles or jaw used.

I've had an issue on left side over the years from bad habits of biting cheek, lips, anxiety tension....the left jaw for years has been very crunchy but that's all. No pain or ever any issues with ears or face pain or eating at all.

So........I'm pretty sure it has to be perimenopause as all my ailments are these days....and I've read alot on here and Internet about jaw, ear, face pain etc in perimenopause.

I'm just absolutely exhausted with it. It's been 3 months of trying to figure out why all this is happening. No one has come up with any definitive answers (shocker!).....

Every day the ear pain continues. I find this the worst bit. Ear pain is awful, the face pain continues...the jaw aches so much....the worse that is, the worse the ear is....and now its affecting eating which was pretty much my one few pleasure left. I can no longer sleep on my side as it puts pressure on the jaw....I'm awake every night with ear pain and pain all in side of face...

It's so cruel and I don't understand. Never have I ever been so aware of my jaw joints... and can't remember what it's like to have normal ears.

It's the not knowing why this is happening? I'm in pain. I'm hurting. I'm in discomfort and distress and yet no doctor in the land can tell me why...just best guesses ....and don't dare suggest it's menopause to them!  :whip:

Is this it now for the rest of my years? Knackered jaw, unable to eat unless it's soft, with pain after and during...ear pain and hurting side of face increased after eating...

I'm so miserable. I'm very aware of TMD. Ive abused my jaws with a life of anxiety which has got much worse this year so not surprised my jaws are failing really....Im being refered to facial surgeon for images of jaw joints etc) I know TMD causes ear pain etc...and refered pain....and that it's a thing at this stage of life...but jaw issues were not what I had thought would encounter in perimenopause.......mind you, nothing surprises me now in this sh*tshow

Is it that?..probably....but I suspect its the perimenopause making a weak spot in my body, weaker...my falling estrogen messing up my jaw bones and joints and affecting all the areas....I'll never know and drive myself mad trying to.

My life is hard enough being very ill and incapacitated with M.E.

Plus all the other thousand perimenopause symptoms that make our lives miserable...

Absolutely sick of it and this is only the beginning......

 :-\



« Last Edit: December 01, 2023, 05:39:09 PM by Dorothy Gale »
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SarahT

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Re: Jaw misery
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2023, 07:39:34 PM »

Hello Dorothy

Strangely my left has had been clicking almost all the time for the last few weeks..it was only the left side but now it seems to have started on the right. Mostly when so am eating. I remember having this many years ago when so was a small child ( yes, as I say many years ago now...) And all I can remember is being sent to a hospital appt and they said when I opened my mouth I was doing so at an angle, or a bit skewed, I had exercises to ensure I opened my mouth straighter but I can't remember exactly, I need a dental check up soon so will ask. I hope this may be as ' simple ' a solution for you. Whilst it doesn't hurt me it is noisy, irritating and I don't want it to affect anything else in the jaw.

I wish I could help more I really do. I have no advice regarding the continuing ear pain, sorry X
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sheila99

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Re: Jaw misery
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2023, 08:08:04 PM »

I'm sorry, you sound so fed up with it all. My daughter had ear and jaw pain, she thought it was an ear problem. Turned out the jaw bone on one side hadn't developed properly and was a bit shorter than the other side. Nothing they could do except advise her not to eat chewy food. Sorry I can't remember if you're on hrt or not? Might be be worth considering if you're not, my hip pain went when I started on hrt. Would they xray your jaw? As for ear pain I still get pain sometimes from an ear infection 30 years ago. It left some damage to the inner ear but again there's nothing they can do.
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pastie supper

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Re: Jaw misery
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2023, 07:47:37 AM »

Hi Dorothy, I get that on and off, been xrayed and MRIed and they concluded my jaw has arthritis on the right side only. No abnormalities at all in the left side. It's the left side that was painful!

I can only tell you what worked for me, I did two useful things.
I asked the GP for nefopam. It's a good painkiller, as strong as opiates in my opinion, but isn't habit forming so doctors are usually delighted to be asked for it. Paracetamol and NSAIDs don't work for this level of pain unless perhaps you get some inflammation reduction from the NSAIDs.

Then I bought packs of dried mango and chewed them, 1-2 packs every day for 3-4 months. I could only chew on the left side, it felt levered apart if I used the right side. I'd not been eating well, so the extra food was good too.

It was more painful initially, then after a while it started getting better. I still get mango to chew, not quite as much though.

Interestingly the advice was to rest, not exercise it, I tried that first and it resulted in me staying in miserable levels of pain until I got it exercised to a level my muscles started holding it all in place better.

I'd been gradually eating softer and softer food because of the pain and that contributed to the problem.

Chewing gum didn't work, maybe because it wasn't hard enough or it made my jaw go various directions, dried mango is yum anyway.
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patches1972

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Re: Jaw misery
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2023, 10:58:16 AM »

So sorry you are going through this. I have TMJ and my jaw clicks and is very noisy, often painful too. Have you looked into Trigeminal neuralgia  as this can affect the jaw, my dad had it and he was in a lot of pain. I hope you find an answer soon it must be so miserable for you
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Dorothy Gale

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Re: Jaw misery
« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2023, 06:16:29 PM »

Thanks so much everyone xxxxx
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