Jaw pain

[Haubrey1]

Does anyone else experience pain in their jaw? My jaw momentarily dislocated at the end of last year and was painful for quite a while. A few weeks later it flared up again without dislocating this time. Today my jaw pain is flaring up again. It’s painful to move and more so to eat. Just wondering if this is common in Lupus or if it’s unrelated?

[maggielee]

Hard to say if it's related to lupus, some of us have hypermobility & issues with our teeth etc. due to Sjogrens..

I was referred to a specialist & had scan of my jaw & found on one side osteoarthritis. My symptoms were pain when eating food, especially chewy food..Also, pain in my ear (all one side), it even affected my balance for abit...

It helped to eat soft foods to rest my jaw. Using heat & pain gel qhen needed. Wishing you well. ml

[Haubrey1 in reply to maggielee]

Thanks maggielee, will try applying heat to see if it helps to ease it. Looks like I’ll be eating a lot of soup this week! 😉

[Jmiller623]

I’ve had TMJ problems my whole life. Fixed when I got braces and they pulled it back over. But it’s back again and worse than ever. Pops every time I open my mouth and is painful if I really have to chew something.

I have SLE and am pretty sure since I have ton of tendon problems with mild myositis that it’s caused by my CTD. Just my take. I feel like when everything gets bad and I’m symptomatic, my jaw also follows suit.

[Haubrey1 in reply to Jmiller623]

Yes, this has been my experience. It seems to happen when I’m at my most symptomatic which is why I was wondering if there could be a connection. Maybe weakened tendons or muscles perhaps? 🤔

[GloomyEeyore]

I have Behçet’s and was being seen at the dental hospital with TMJ. Due to go back when I can. I was given a couple of exercises to do:

1. Close your mouth and press under your chin using your thumb. While doing this try to open your mouth, while keeping it pushed closed.

2. With your mouth closed position your tongue as far back in your mouth as possible. Slowly try to open your mouth.

Was also told to massage the jaw gently, leave a gap between my upper and lower teeth when my mouth is closed and to apply heat and a pain relief gel.

[Haubrey1 in reply to GloomyEeyore]

Thank you so much for this, GloomyEeyore. I might give those exercises a go 👍🏻

[Cann]

This is something I experience from time to time and like you say is painful. Out of the blue it happens, but I try not to get too hungry because that is when it seems to happen to me. If I go too long without food or may be have been concentrating on something for a long while and perhaps jaw in position for too long. I am sure it is linked to my other health problems as symptoms vary and are very odd, but I tend to massage the points in the corner of where the upper and lower jaw joint and this can help, have you tried that, but be gentle as can be painful. x

[Haubrey1 in reply to Cann]

Thanks for this, Cann. That’s really interesting, thank you for your insight. I do find myself massaging it to try to ease it. I can’t yet say how effective it is but will keep trying to see if it makes a difference x

[Cann in reply to Haubrey1]

Hope it helps over time.x