Anyone else get arthritis or neuralgia in the jaw??

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

Get it checked out, possibly x-rayed. Could be RA, could be too much calcium/ not enough magnesium. Not easy to figure out.

I have mild (so far) trigeminal neuralgia and sometimes get huge pains in my jaw and/or my teeth and cheek area.   These can be debilitating. I also think I may have some TMJ to go along with that.  Anyway, hopefully, you have neither of these conditions, but you may have to go to a few doctors to get diagnosed.

Nan, yeah I suspect it’s going to be a similar diagnosis when I do eventually get one. I’ve got areas in my cheekbones  and forehead that were fractured decades ago and now ache like the devil when the weather’s changing, or a storm’s brewing. 

Sadly, there isn’t an opportunity to see  a doc for several days, and I’m working in 5 hours. The program participants are very understanding but it’s an outing - I’d rather not walk around with a thick winter scarf wound around my neck.

fashion dilemma solution:  balaclava

don’t forget ( in the DDx, as you are crowd sourcing):  https://www.washingtonpost.com...

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

joanne said:

It's not usually so bad, but we've had a weekend of really icy winds. My jaw is is aching as if red-hot nails are slowly being inserted through the bottom of my chin. It's unlikely to be dental pain, might be trigemminal, much more likely to be arthritic or gout.

Haven't really been able to eat or talk much for two, almost three days. Have to choose my drinks carefully, and due to allergies, have to be very very careful about which painkillers I use. Paracetamol is out, aspirin is out, codeine is out.

Just as well I'm on daily meds to prevent (minimise) migraines. I've also been clutching one of those 10-hr air-activated hand-warmer thingies to my face.

Anyone got other suggestions? I have work in 8 hours.

Thanks for your help.

Change the diet to plant base. 

Change the diet to plant base. 

I’ve had TMJ since college. Terrible pain, frequent headaches during college. Seemed to wane over next decade or two but been back past 8-10 years. And with a vengeance past 3-4 years. I am convinced it has something to do with arthritis and age related deterioration. I’m dreading the thought of it getting worse. 

TMJ is generally obvious when your jaw crunches or cracks or pops. Mine sort of sounds like my knees do when I do a deep knee bend that’s why I think it’s sort of like an arthritis thing. My jaw actually also physically pops and shifts off it’s “track” on one side. 

Deep massage helps mine but honestly not that much. I find not many know how to treat- they want to create a guard to stop grinding. Mine is not grinding-related but a problem with jaw alignment. I wonder if a chiropractor could help?

Conanrob, as far as I know I don’t grind, but I might have over-flexibility in the actual joint. The painful spot, tho, seems to be lower down in the jaw where a tooth was removed several years ago (roots badly impacted and they had to do some digging to get everything out). Now whenever it’s really cold the bone in that spot aches badly.

I’ve got both dr and dentist appointments in the morning (my Tuesday). Appreciate the suggestion of balaclava - was considering winding a scarf into something like this. In the end I found adhesive toe-warmers I stuck onto my jaw! Came home from work early. 

Bernard, the suggestion of plant-based diet is great except it takes too long to be effective and I’m allergic to most veg and every fruit apart from peeled pears. The only way I can eat a balanced diet is to include some animal protein, and even that presents challenges. For most of this year I’ve on an elemental diet, which is actually plant-based infant formula and am carefully supervised by a barrage of dietitians.

Pain like that in the jawbone not joint doesn’t sound like TMJ. Either does the intense onset. Good luck figuring it out!

Aha! Ultra-fine crack in back molar!