when a joint is affected by ra - is it always affected or can the pain move away and elsewhere. The reason I am asking is because I've had it in the left side of my jaw for weeks now - I can hardly eat - I read that it's usually quite far into RA that the jaw is affected and that it's usually symmetrical - so wondering if my jaw is to do with something else. Also if joints are damaged from RA what happens to your jaw. It's doing wonders for the figure I suppose, my clothes are hanging off me just now but I am soooooo hungry - pain is just not worth it. Going for bone scan tomorrow - fingers crossed (no pun intended) Love and prayers to all. My experience is that RA pain can move away and elsewhere. Seems like sometimes you get one part under control then it starts somewhere else. If you can't eat, try some soup or Ensure, Milkshakes etc.
always on the move.
The first joints affected for me were my thumbs, but there are weeks when my thumbs are just fine. Today, however, just a day after taking my humira, I'm flaring in my thumbs...
Some days my knees are terrible, but my hips are fine.. some days my shoulders are killing me and everything below the waist is just average.
One thing about RA is it is consistantly random.. arrrgh
Another thing you might want to check into, is the pain could be caused by nerves. What that means is you maybe clenching your jaws which in turn causes pain in both or one side of your jaw. This usually happens when you are sleeping and you don't realize it is happening. There are mouth splints you can buy at most stores like Wal-mart(not freakmart) Meijers etc. and I believe you could get them at an orthepedic supply store too. Try it , this may help relieve some of your pain. memeEventually, things usually become symetric. But RA loves to break the rules! OH GREAT! So I can look forward to this pain in both sides then (BOO HOO) I only ever have jaw pain in one side..never both at the same time. It hurts so bad that my gums have felt numb and I couldn't feel my teeth chew food. Something I noticed in the last couple months...I used to always bite the inside of my mouth..OFTEN....being down to 5mgs of prednisone and humira, I haven't bitten my mouth in a long time. My husband says it's cuz my face got thinner. I wonder if that was inflamation from RA cuz I haven't lost any weight. The symmetrical thing always confused me. So I asked my RD. He said that in the case of RA, symmetry does not necessarily happen at the same time. It only means that you have pain in both joints at some time. For example, you left wrist might hurt one month, and then suddenly a week or month later, you right wrist will hurt. The timing of the symmetry is not concurrent. Oh. And if it means anything to you, I had jaw pain in the first month. I don't think there's any sort of order to it, Julie. Always a surprise in the lovely world of RA....I too had jaw pain early on in RA. Never in both jaw joints at the same time but it did alternate between the two sides. I found trying to stay as relaxed as I possibly could helped the pain a lot. Also, I found if you placed your tongue on the tops of your bottom teeth, then closed your mouth so your top teeth rested on your tongue, (if you do this correctly, the tip of your tongue should poke out a little through the front of your teeth) this would always remind you to keep your jaw relaxed cause if you tensed up...............you'd bite your tongue! ouch! you will only forget for the first couple of times trust me.... (just a little trick I learned) and I haven't had jaw pain for about a year now.
Hope it helps!
Jackie
I usually have jaw pain on the right side. I have noticed though that my pain usuallly is worse in the morning and gets better as the day progresses. I'm only about ten months into my RA career and I have a sore jaw on my left