Jaw Pain?

[.Poppy.]

I woke up yesterday with jaw pain that I had hoped would be gone today, but it isn't, if anything it's more painful.

I'm not sure if it is my jaw that hurts, or the area underneath it (lymph nodes)? When I press in that area on the nodes they are definitely painful. It doesn't hurt when I open my mouth, but it does hurt when I yawn or swallow. I can feel the pain in my jaw as well as directly under it, and sometimes when I yawn/swallow my ear hurts as well. If I turn my head certain ways though when I swallow I can keep it from hurting.

I haven't tried taking any pain medication yet as I get my first covid shot this morning and have heard it's not advised to take anything before it; I think I can try some pain meds after though.

Has anyone else had this? Of course I turned to Dr. Google for fear it was something bad, but even Google suggests it might be TMJ (I don't know if the area underneath would be sensitive as well though?) and that if the area is painful it's not likely to be something truly terrible.

[Scass]

It could be tmj, or maybe you’ve been grinding your teeth? Sometimes it can be just the way you slept. I’m sure it’ll be better soon. I hope your jab was ok.


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[.Poppy.]

I do grind my teeth. It’s just weird because sometimes it feels like it’s not my jaw, but underneath where my nodes are.

I’m going to take a Tylenol tonight and hopefully it helps.

The shot went well, but hopefully I don’t feel awful tomorrow!

[glassgirlw]

For what it’s worth, I didn’t have any side effects from my first shot apart from some muscle aches in that arm. That went away after a couple days and didn’t stop me doing anything for those days!

[.Poppy.]

Thanks! The pain is still there but has subsided. I’m now wondering if I strained one of the muscles in my neck (maybe the platysmus) and that could be the cause.

The shot went well - the whole event was well organized and everyone so nice! My arm hurts a bit and I had some minor malaise last night but otherwise all is good. Still think I’ll have some effects after the second dose, but it will be fine and definitely better than covid!

[glassgirlw]

Yeah my second dose is April 2nd, I scheduled it for a Friday with the assumption that I may have a day of feeling a little “blah” so this way I’ll have the weekend to recoup :roflmao:Not really “nervous” about it though, I agree it will be much better than getting really sick with Covid!

[.Poppy.]

So, just as an updated this has been happening off and on. I'll be fine for a few weeks and then for a few days I have the pain. It hurts when I press right below my jaw so I'm not sure if that's TMJ or something else entirely; I've been trying not to Google but have given in once or twice - and there isn't anything sinister that pops up so I'm hoping that's good news.

I need to have a physical anyway so I called this morning and booked one for next week since all day yesterday, last night, and so far this morning it's hurting. Hoping for easy answers.

[.Poppy.]

So, I had my physical today and I'm feeling kind of meh about it. I had to change doctors because my doctor retired a couple of years ago; I left one new doctor after a physical because their billing practices were insane and I met with this doctor last year virtually and he seemed nice. He was still very nice, just a bit detached which made the process feel not very thorough.

I told him I needed to re-explore migraine medications because my last one caused me to have issues - he didn't really give me any options or ask what was wrong with the last med, just immediately prescribed something else and said "try this". I also brought up the jaw pain and he didn't ask any follow up questions, didn't feel my jaw/neck (not even when he quickly "checked" my nodes) just went "huh" and moved on. I would have expected at least something like "oh, it's probably nothing because your bloodwork was good" or "oh, it might be _____". Just dismissal.

I go back in a month to recheck my migraine med to see if it's working but...I'm not sure. Does this sound like an issue? Should I change doctors? I'm not fishing for a diagnosis, I just would have appreciated a bit more dialogue?