Jaw/upper neck soreness/burning sensation

[Leem]

Hiya,

Someone close to me passed away last Tuesday and ever since that day I have had this kind of sore crawling/burning feeling in the right of my jaw (about the middle). I have been very upset over the last week (much more than usual). Sometimes it moves to just below my chin and to the left but only when I am in the middle of an anxious moment, then returns to the right when I calm down a bit. Seems to get worse the more stressed I get.I have some tightness in my jaw as well but no clicking or anything and I cannot locate the pain at all when I feel for it which is what is actually worrying me I think.

It must be said that I think I may have started clenching my jaw in my sleep and also sometimes in the day but not sure (never done this before so don't concentrate on it). My teeth at the back are also quite sensitive top and bottom a little but nothing that I am concerned about. Have no trouble eating or swallowing btw.

I am going to the docs tomorrow for sure but just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and would this potentially be down to anxiety? Never had this symptom before so all new to me, but then again this is a particularly upsetting time for me.

Thanks in advance :yesyes:

[livethelife]

if you are clenching your jaw then i think this pain you have could be from that. i have been a tooth grinder for years - just one particular tooth that i grind against. this has never caused me any jaw pain in the past but i just started having jaw pain a couple of weeks ago. because i suffer from HA my immediate thought is that whenever i feel this pain i think it is indicating something is wrong with my heart.
it is good that you are going to your doctors tomorrow. also it seems that your situation is closely linked to someone close to you passing away. it is amazing how our minds can work even without us realizing it. i don't think that it is a coincidence that this started just after the death last week.
many times i am clenching/grinding without even realizing it and you are likely doing that too. also it's important to remember how many of our muscles are interconnected so pain that starts in one area due to tense muscles etc can radiate to other areas. let us know what your doc says :)

[HoneyLove]

Hi Leem, I'm sorry to hear about your bereavement, no wonder you're feeling stressed.

This can definitely be a part of anxiety. When we're stressed we clench our jaw muscles, often unconsciously and sometimes at night without realising it. The jaw muscles are incredibly powerful and when they're overused it's easy for pain and tension to be the result. It is usually referred to as TMJD or simply TMJ - TMJ is just an acronym for tempromandibular joint which is the jaw joint.

It can cause pain in the jaw, face, neck, head, shoulders, chest and back - amongst other weird symptoms!

It's good to visit your doc, but often dentists are the best people to ask about it as they can recommend helpful treatment like jaw exercises or even look for telltale signs of nighttime clenching. If you are clenching at night they will usually offer you a mouthguard to help stop the problem.

You can see that it's directly related to your anxiety, and TMJ and stress usually go hand in hand. So it would be good to put some stress management techniques in place to help your jaw muscles relax again. Perhaps some guided meditations, or a massage, something to help you totally relax physically.

You can also help yourself out by:

- applying heat to the facial muscles (I have a microwavable heat pack)
- avoiding chewy or tough foods foods and pen chewing habits
- eating only small mouthfulls of food, don't stretch too wide
- avoid opening your mouth very wide while yawning or sneezing
- avoid bad postures like leaning your chin on your hand or looking down for long periods at your phone/tablet/computer

Hope that helps! The key is stress management here, relax those tight muscles x

[Leem]

Thanks for the replies LTL and HL. Just been sitting here actually and relaxing my jaw. Guess what, only a little soreness when relaxed! I can now feel my jaw muscles (think that's what feels tense), they feel like they have had a work out! :ohmy:

I do regular meditation Honey, love it. Just been tough the last week. In fact up until then I had made awesome progress with my anxiety. Meditation has helped me no end.

Going to attempt to concentrate on relaxing my jaw for the rest of the day and see what happens.