so the left side of my jaw has been clicking when i chew for around 24 hours, and now the right side is starting to feel sore and tight too. i did a little googling on TMJ causes and treatments. since i don't grind my teeth or clench my jaw, rest my chin on my hand or hold the phone against my shoulder with my chin, or chew tobacco or excessive amounts of gum, it seems likely that my arthritis has moved into my jaw joint. DO NOT WANT. the 'home remedy' type treatments are mostly anti-inflammatory stuff (ibuprofen, cold packs, etc) and rest. does anyone else here have experience with it or know how long to use cold packs and eat mashed potatoes before concluding that nope this is for reals and going to the doctor for a cortisone shot?
Hmm. My jaw does the clicky thing, but only when I unlock(?) my jaw. I do tend to have general jaw tightness/soreness when I'm really stressed. I think the longest it's lasted was maybe about a week and a half at fairly consistant levels. My dentists always inquire if I'm experiencing pain(not regularly) and have recommended the jaw thingies for when I sleep if it ever becomes a problem. Sometimes the thing stressing your muscles isn't your daily activities, but your subconscious night ones. My personal limited experience suggests keeping a close eye on it for a week or so. If there are any spikes in pain/stiffness or it gets steadily worse, consult a doctor asap.
well, i snore like a harley-davidson, so according to all reports i spend most of the night with my mouth open. no tooth-grinding or jaw-clenching. mostly drooling and noise. i think i'll go easy on the chewy foods for a while, see what that does. it first showed up after i had pizza, and i love to gnaw the chewy crusts, so it's possible i just wore the muscles out. i'm just worried because i got arthritis so young and i've been waging war on it ever since, and if it got into my jaw that's a whole new battle front to deal with. :/
probably a different cause, but the right side of my jaw started clicking when I chewed with it about a month ago, and now both sides do it and sometimes pressure/resistance builds up for a second and then it pops... pops? there isn't really a sound but it /feels/ like a pop and I want to run away from the left side of my head. I don't have a solution to propose; I just wanted to say it is unpleasant and I hate it. aughhhh. my dad said some doctor once told him to strengthen and center his jaw muscles by putting his tongue on the roof of his mouth and moving his jaw up and down, so I have been doing that on and off, but I haven't noticed any effect.
oh dude no, if it's doing that i'm p sure the cartilage pad in your jaw joint is inflamed and getting displaced and you should see a doc.
Mine does that, too, haha. Sometimes it feels like my jaw has slid to the side and my bite gets jacked up, and then I have to 'pop it back in' with this dull, hollow THUNK that reverberates through my skull. D:;;; And then it's sore and prone to displacing again for the rest of the day. Happens mostly when I chew crunchy flat things like chips that require actual grinding motions instead of just mashing.
well now i've got a sore throat and headache and all that good stuff. so maybe it's just from the cold i'm obviously coming down with, and won't outlast it. fingers crossed!
I have that problem if I open my mouth too far... I'd forgotten about it, but a few months I had a few voice lessons and my teacher was always trying to get me to "drop my jaw" further than I can, and for the next few days it popped a lot even when I was just using it regularly. It's been going on for a few years I guess, but has never been painful. =\
so my mom told me to do my research and see if there was anything I could do before going to the doctor, and from what I see I probably don't have anything too bad going on if it doesn't actually hurt. I am going to wait, not eat chewy food, do jaw exercises etc. and see if it goes away.
@jacktrash I HATE to like the fact that you're feeling grody, but a cold is infinitely better than face-arthritis. D:
haha yeah that's about how i'm thinking rn i feel like dookie but viruses pass on their own, without needing any special equipment or you know, hospital visits or huge needles going into my joints, twice in the spine was enough for me thank u :P
I have pretty severe TMJD (TMJ is actually just the name of the joint). I've actually been told by specialists to stay away from cold packs, and use heat packs instead. The reason is the cold tenses up the muscles around the jaw and the heat helps to relax them. I did physical therapy for a while (still do at home) and "jaw school" where they basically taught us healthier swallowing, chewing, breathing, yawning, sleeping, etc. habits to protect the jaw. My at home therapy is kind of fun. I get to make funny faces, and use a half inflated rubber ball as a pillow and roll my head around. Physical therapy besides that at the physical therapist's office actually consisted of taking naps with heated blankets and then head/facial massages. I could PM you or email Seebs with scans of the booklet I got from jaw school, if you like? The most easy to explain stuff is like the breathing- breathing in, the belly should expand instead of contract, don't open your mouth wide to yawn (they recommend actually bringing a hand up to support your jaw when you yawn). Sleep on your back, not your stomach. On your back is best, but sides are better than your stomach. Eating foods- I'm not supposed to have tough meat or breads like bagels. Also mixing textures like granola in yoghurt is supposed to be bad.
My dad got his knee wonked up (he's a police officer and a lady grabbed a full bottle of juice and lobbed it at his knee, which went a very alarming CRUNCH) and every so often he now needs the injections you mention to keep the damn thing lubricated. (As far as I can tell, that's what they're up to.) His dad got a double knee replacement in his 50s. My mother also has severe arthritis in her hip and spine (doc says it looks like a 90 year old's and you can feel the knots in it when she moves around. 8D; Her mother had it too (hips, back, knees). Odds are, I'm heading their direction too (bad ankles, bad knee with rice krispies in it, achey lower spine, none of which get better with rest). Idk why I'm spewing this here?? I guess just sort of mulling it over!
Oof. I really hope that my little wandery post last night didn't offend. ;; and that you feel better today!
I've had left-hand clicky jaw for years. Open too far and little clunk as the cartilage slips. Now we're possibly stuck. If not then try and close and then BIG clunk as everything falls back into place. If it is stuck then only my dentist could put it back by sticking his thumbs in my mouth and playing waggle-jaw. Inconvenient but never painful. A month ago my left jaw hinge area started hurting something rotten. BUT the clicky jaw stopped happening. Dentist said ibuprofen and HEAT for the area. 'You are lucky boy,' he says, 'many people pay lots of money to get jaws fixed.' Let's hope things stay this way. Hope you are feeling better too.
