The right side of my face and jaw have been throbbing for a few days now. It periodically stops completely, but comes back with a vengence. When describing the pain, the closest thing I can compare it to is the pain you get with a tooth abscess. My boss, who is also my Dentist, just looked at my teeth about a month ago and nothing was wrong. I will still have her take a look on Saturday, but I don’t think it’s a dental problem. I have read that other people here had face pain from Chiari…Is this what it felt like?
Crystal,
I have terrible face pain. Most days it just aches but somedays it throbs like you are describing. I have often though it was dental issues but there are so many nerves in your face jaw and mouth. There is the trimengial nerve that runs through the side of the face. Mine flairs up often. Heat helps me with the pain.....Wendy
Thank you Wendyanne and Poptart:) I will definitely talk to my doctor about it.
hi
i was recently told that my facial and throat pain was due to muscle spasms in the neck
the pain starts on the left side of my throat and goes all the way up the jaw to my ear
hope you are feeling better
lori
Thank you Lori:) It is better than it was a couple days ago, but it is still really painful. I have an appointment with my primary care provider tomorrow and with my dentist (aka boss) on Saturday. This will be my 1st appt with my PCP since I saw Dr. Ellenbogen. I can’t wait to tell him that he was wrong…My case IS surgical and it IS that bad! Maybe, he’ll actually listen to me now…probably not, but it’s worth a try.
hi
let us know how your appt goes
thinking of you
I too get this in my cheecks and in my jaw. The cheek pain feels like sinus pressure and the jaw pain feels like something is wrong with my teeth (I have never even had a cavity so I know this is not the case). I often wonder why this happens because it really does hurt! Let us all know what is happening cause I am really interested!
Crystal
Try to see if there are any triggers... like throughout the day just pay attention to your head posture/neck, sitting, standing, any other activities... if you try to be aware enough you'll figure it out. I may just be that you are very tense. Lots of relaxing is key, but relax in a way that it doesn't set this pain of yours off. Also, try not to mess with your neck... like I've found that the harder I tried to find a relaxing position for my neck and head, the worse it all got.
I've used to feel the pain in face all the way into my teeth, it was crazy but I'm glad that's over. Sinuses are a constant battle. Ear pressure, nose... all those pressure systems being clogged and constantly adjusting themselves, it can be really painful and irritating. good luck to you<3love
UPDATE: I had an appt with my PCP (primary care provider) and Dentist (aka my boss) today. I tried to ask my PCP about the face/jaw pain, but he just said to talk to my dentist. He also said that since I have Decompression surgery scheduled on June 28th, he needs to cut back my pain medication. So, instead of taking 40mg of Oxycontin 3xday, now I’m supposed to take 30mg Oxycontin 3xday for the next two weeks. After that, he’s going to cut it down to 20mg 3xday. I’m freaking out because I’m in excruciating pain as it is with the 40mg 3xday. He said I have to do this or they won’t be able to control my pain after surgery. Did anyone else have to go through this? I left a message for Dr. Ellenbogen (my NS), because I don’t remember him saying anything about me having to cut my medication in half prior to surgery. I really don’t know how I’m going to make it through the next month:( Back to the face/jaw pain…I saw my dentist today and she confirmed that nothing is wrong with my teeth. She thinks I’m clenching my jaw because of stress. She said that’s the reason for the pain and swelling in my face and jaw. So, she is going to make me a mouth guard. I hope it helps!
Crystal,
I thought of a few things that might help. First of all sometimes sublingual b12 helps with nerve pain. Also there are trigger points in a few muscles that can cause face/jaw pain. They are in the Upper Tapezius(shoulder muscles) and the sterno mastoid muscle in the neck. You can Google them. You can also Google 'Triger points that cause jaw/face pain' in images.The neck muscle attaches behind the ear and then under the collar bone. It often gets short and tight from computer work, reading or anything that causes us to put our chins down. It kind of uncomfortable but what you do is locate it with your thunb and pointer finger and massage the lenght of it by rolling it and sqeezing it. It's uncomfortable and may you choke a little but after your done it frees up your neck some and may help with the jaw pain. The ones in the Trapezius you can rub or have someone rub for you. You know your on a trigger point if it takes your breath away when you apply preasure. The more you rub it the less it will hurt. This may give you some relief. I use these techniques on myself and on my family and they really help. .........Wendy
Thank you Wendy and Poptart:) I greatly appreciate your advice and suggestions! I’ll definitely give it a try. I did talk to my PCP about trying an anti-convulsent (sp?) medication to help with Neuropathic pain, but he said no because I’m not suffering from Neuropathic pain. Hmmm…I thought we did suffer from Neuropathic pain with Chiari and Syringomyelia, but what do I know?! I’m VERY frustrated with my PCP…He doesn’t think my case is surgical or that it’s that bad. He even refused to give me a referral to see Dr. Ellenbogen! I had to get my referral from another doctor.