Just wondering who else here has jaw issues. My reg. dentist wanted me
to see a specialist since he thinks my bite has changed. Yesterday I went
to the specialist-get this-named Dr. Kevorkian. Hmm...I know the other
one just got out of jail... Oh...and his partner is Dr. Payne. Fun stuff!
Anyway, he did x-rays and says that the joint is breaking down and my
lower jaw has thickened down both sides. I have a mouth guard that the
other dentist gave me and Dr. K prescribed Flexeril to loosen the jaw
muscles. I go back in two weeks. He mentioned doing something where
he will go in and flush out the jaw joint to clean it up a bit if things don't
improve.
Just wondering who else has these issues?Rebecca, sorry to hear about your jaw issues. I have jaw issues as well. I broke my jaw about 20 years ago and have had problems since, including TMJ. I have constant jaw pain and headaches, exacerbated by the fact that I grind my teeth pretty hard each night. I need another mouth guard as I ground right through my last one. I had a hangover effect with flexeril and switched to skelaxin at night. Good luck! Love and pain-free hugs, Juliah
I have jaw issues. I cannot open my mouth wide enough most days to fit a spoon in my mouth. Hubby just HATES to be around me when I eat cearel, I tend to slurp it off the spoon. I do more of put the spoon or fork full of food up to my mouth and inhale it in.
I know when I have inflammation in my jaw because I cannot hear as well. It is mostly my right side. Everything sounds muffled and I have to make people repeat what they are saying to me. I know I do not have bad hearing because I did go get my hearing checked when that started happening and they said I had excellent hearing? I was like well, why does everything sound muffled in my right ear? They could not answer. But I did tell my RD about it an he said it was probably inflammation in my jaw.
My left jaw is one of those places I flare (like now). It hurts to open my mouth but it feels more like really tight muscles rather than a joint issue. I was wondering about that muscle connection because I also flare in my neck which I know is a skeletal issue but really tight stiff muscles in my neck always accompany it.Jodi_Girl -
That makes sense to me. I have a lot of problems with the muscle on the right side of my neck. And my head tilts to the right, not sure if that is from muscle tightness or something else, and I also cannot lean my head all the way to my left side because it feels like the muscle on the right side of my neck is being pulled tight.
But I am not completely sure it is that the muscle in my neck is tight because, I can hear the inflammation in my jaw, or at least I think it is inflammation.
I did not ever notice if I could hear better when I was on a muscle relaxer or not. Will talk with my PCP about putting me back on one and I will see if I can hear better.
I was wondering if I need a muscle relaxer. I've had this stiff neck much like you described for over a month. You get the muscle relaxer from your pcp? The RD won't take care of that?
Jodi
I told my RD about needing a muscle relaxer, but he is old and forgets things I tell him. You would have to know my RD to understand this. The man is in his 80's he is very forgetful. He is in and out of the room the whole time thru the appt. Last visit it took me 3 times to remind him I needed a refill on my pred, and he still forgot, I had to ask his nurse to get me a RX for my refill.
I am going to see an internist in July. I am hoping he will RX me something for my stiff, tight neck, and refer me to another RD.
Jodi & Joonie - I take Robaxin/Methocarbamol 750 mg. as needed for neck problems and it works wonders. It was initially prescribed by my orthopedic surgeon, but my rheumatologist has been writing the refills for me. You might want to ask you RD about it...it's a muscle relaxer and it's good stuff!
Gale
So sorry you are having these probs. It is so painful. My dentist wanted me to have clean up procedure, but I'm not ready for that. Right now I sleep in a guard and that is all I am willing to do for the moment. My jaw has not been flaring for the past 6 months and I don't want to take a chance and irritate it.
To me, right now, it is all about "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
I keep getting lock jaw and to release it i have to open my mouth wide to make it crack, i need to see my dentist but hes retired and i hate the new one.The waiting lists in the uk to go a new dentists is SOOOOOOOOOOO long.Since I have neen on Humira my teeth have been really sensitive too.I had jaw issues for a few years, wasnt able to open my mouth wide enough to eat sushi and stuff like bagels....could get a spoon in though. hurt to chew, no gum for me. i also had the locking jaw stuff, ,got my nightguard about a year ago and im doing much much better! Jaw only hurts when i chew a lot, i grind my teeth a ton though/clench sooo i need a new guard already drilled holes through it :)