Pain under the jaw

Pain under the jaw can occur as a result of mechanical impact or acquired disease. The danger of pain under the jaw is in the whole list of possible consequences that are responsible not only for the integrity of the jaw itself, but also the hard palate, nasal cavity and even the eyes.

In case of pain under the jaw, it is necessary to contact doctors such as a surgeon, neurologist, dentist, in order to avoid unpleasant consequences. Why should you contact these doctors?

Pain under the jaw can be caused by reasons related to trauma, dental and neuralgic causes, which we will consider in more detail below.

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Causes of pain under the jaw

So, what could be the cause of pain under the jaw?

1. Fractures of the lower jaw. This is possible due to a strong blow to the face, an accident, during which a fracture is possible. A severe head injury can be the source of a fracture of both jaws at the same time, that is, the upper and lower.

Fractures are divided into several groups:

• direct and reflected;
• single and multiple;
• with and without offset;
• splintered;
• open and closed.

If the lower jaw is broken, the person experiences severe pain under it; the result is obvious: swelling of the soft facial tissues, hemorrhage; chewing is painful or impossible.

2. Osteomyelitis of the jaws is a disease based on an infectious and inflammatory process that affects all parts of the jaw bone. Osteomyelitis has several types:

• traumatic,
• hematogenous,
• odontogenic.

The last type of osteomyelitis is formed as a result of disturbances in the microflora of dental root canals and periodontal pockets. The causative agents of odontogenic osteomyelitis are staphylococci, streptococci, and anaerobes.

Acute osteomyelitis is characterized by symptoms such as painful pulsation under the jaw, chills, temperature reaching 40 degrees, headache.

In this case, it is necessary to identify the "problem" tooth, where there is necrotic pulp or filling. It is easy to detect, as the neighboring teeth "move", and a sharp pain is felt in this place. The face becomes swollen and asymmetrical. The lymph nodes become painful and enlarged.

Possible consequences: abscess, phlegmon.

The blood condition also changes for the worse: increased ESR, neutrophilic leukocytosis.

It is difficult to say about general well-being, since everything depends on the complexity of the disease.

3. Dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint provokes pain syndromes in several areas:

• lower jaw,
• in front of the ear,
• forehead,
• cheek.

It also has other characteristic features, which mainly include:

• clicking,
• limited movement.

The pain itself is caused by myofascial syndrome in the masticatory muscle, malocclusion, inflammatory or degenerative changes in the joint.

4. Sharp and strong impulses provoked by the affected cranial nerves have a serious consequence - cranial neuralgia. In most cases, we are talking about neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve.
5. A variant of neuralgia of the superior laryngeal nerve is possible, where the main characteristics include:

• paroxysmal unilateral or bilateral pain in the larynx and in the angle of the lower jaw,
• radiating pain near the eye, ear, chest, shoulder,
• hiccups, yawning, hypersalivation, cough, pain when swallowing.

6. A very rare phenomenon is glossopharyngeal neuralgia.

This disease is characterized by paroxysmal pain, which usually originates in the root of the tongue or tonsils and covers the larynx, ear, and angle of the jaw. There are cases when the pain syndrome spreads to the eyeball. Very rarely, pain occurs in the neck. Attacks of pain appear suddenly at the moment of movement of the pharynx or tongue, namely, during swallowing or talking. The duration of pain attacks is approximately 1 - 3 minutes, and the pain is burning and shooting. The attack is accompanied by dry mouth, dry cough. Increased salivation occurs after the attack. The patient usually holds his head on the side, that is, the tilt occurs in the direction where his pain points are located.

7. In case of neuralgia of the ear node, the patient complains of paroxysmal pains, the duration of which reaches 1 hour, in the temple area starting from the external auditory canal under the lower jaw. In addition, the disease provokes "clicking" in the ear. Pain may occur during the intake of hot or cold dishes, as well as at the moment of hypothermia of the face.
8. Arteritis is a lesion of the facial artery.

Symptoms include a burning pain that begins in the lower or upper jaw and ends at the corner of the eye.

9. Carotidynia is explained by inflammation of the carotid arteries. In this case, a person is characterized by pain, which is localized in the neck, face, teeth, under the lower jaw, in the ear. The pain lasts for several hours.
10. Odontogenic pain under the jaw occurs due to dental problems, where the main cause is irritation of the nerves due to caries, dental pulp disease or periodontal abscesses. Usually, intense pain bothers a person at night. After dental manipulations regarding the affected tooth, the possibility of trigeminal nerve neuropathy cannot be ruled out, in the process of which the chewing muscles weaken and sensitivity in the lower lip area decreases.
11. Osteogenic sarcoma is a malignant non-epithelial tumor of the jaw, which results in deformation of the affected bone. The pain is moderate.
12. Erythrootalgia or red ear syndrome. If we talk about the causes, then the following are possible: spondylosis, temporomandibular joint lesions, thalamus lesions, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, idiopathic hypersensitivity of pain fibers to high temperatures.

As for the pain symptoms, the main location is the ear, sometimes it radiates to the back of the head, forehead, lower jaw. The ear turns red and becomes hot.

Symptoms of pain under the jaw

Pain under the jaw, which occurs in people wearing braces, while significant looseness of the teeth is noticeable, is considered a normal phenomenon, since the installed odontogenic structure is designed to correct the teeth and bite, during which the teeth are displaced.

If the pain symptoms have nothing to do with braces, then these are signs of possible post-traumatic consequences or diseases, the symptoms of which are presented below:

• with arthrosis, the patient suffers from constant aching pain in the jaw, accompanied by crunching. The pain increases with wide opening of the mouth, chewing;
• In arthritis, the main symptoms are crunching and pain under the jaw and near the ear. This disease restricts jaw movements.

Arthrosis and arthritis bother with pain mainly in the morning, plus the patient can hear noise. Only an X-ray can determine the exact diagnosis, as the symptoms of the diseases are similar to each other (and not only arthritis and arthrosis).

Tumors:

1. benign ones may not have symptoms at all. A person may not even suspect the existence of a particular disease for a long time, for example, with a common osteoma. But there are types of diseases that still make themselves known, creating excruciating pain:

• Symptoms of osteoid osteoma: sharp pain in the jaw, occurring mainly at night; facial asymmetry. These are signs of an advanced form because this type of tumor develops slowly and does not manifest itself in any way at the initial stage of its existence;
• osteoblastoclastoma is initially characterized by aching pain in the jaw. As the tumor grows, the pain syndrome intensifies. There is also an elevated body temperature, a fistula on the skin of the face, a pale pink neoplasm on the gums is visible to the naked eye. In the last stages of the disease, facial asymmetry is noticeable;
• A thickened jaw is the first sign of adamantioma. During the period of tumor growth, chewing function is impaired. Late forms of the disease are characterized by severe, sharp pain in the jaw, the severity of which increases when chewing.

A benign tumor of any type is subject to treatment – surgical intervention.

2. malignant tumors:

• cancer affects the soft tissues surrounding the jaw at high speed, which is the result of tooth loss. The pain is almost imperceptible at first, but over time the patient cannot do without painkillers;
• osteogenic sarcoma – originates in bone tissue. The patient feels unbearable pain in the jaw or under it for a long time.

Pain under the lower jaw

The lower jaw has many anatomical receptors, the damage of which leads to pain. It is necessary to pay attention mainly to pathologies related to the submandibular lymph nodes. The possibility of lymphadenitis is not excluded - an inflammatory process that occurred as a result of the introduction of infections into the lymph nodes. Acute lymphadenitis causes sharp pain under the jaw, high body temperature and general weakness. Refusal of timely treatment can lead to a chronic form of the disease. Here the pain is already acute. In the course of both these forms of lymphadenitis, a purulent formation is possible, in medicine known as an abscess and phlegmon.

Neoplasms in the submandibular lymph nodes are usually metastases that have penetrated from any organs. The pain in this case can be completely different. Other signs include: a long-term elevated body temperature, weight loss, weakness.

With hypersensitivity of the tongue (glosalgia), the pain radiates to the lower jaw. What in this case can cause pain under the jaw? Long conversations, chewing too hard foods, eating hot - cold, sour, spicy and other foods.

Inflammation of the tongue (glositis) is somewhat similar in symptoms to the previous variant, but in this case the tongue is thickened and bright red. It can cause phlegmon or abscess.

Salivary stone disease (sialoliths) is characterized by severe pain and one-sided swelling under the lower jaw; bad breath, which is a consequence of pus secreted from the gland duct; increased body temperature, weakness.

With the development of inflammatory processes of the salivary glands (sialadenitis), the patient also complains of pain under the lower jaw and general malaise. The final result may be phlegmon or abscess.

Angina can also provoke pain under the lower jaw. Here, pain under the jaw and in the throat intensifies at the moment of swallowing. Often, the patient cannot swallow food, which is why he refuses to eat at all. Other symptoms: ear pain, high body temperature, signs of acute respiratory infections or flu.

Pain under the jaw on the right

Pain under the jaw on the right or left can be explained by several reasons:

• injury,
• inflammatory processes affecting the jaw bone,
• dental problems,
• lymphatic changes, including cancer.

No matter what symptoms accompany pain under the jaw on the right, a consultation with a doctor is mandatory.

If the pain does not cause any particular discomfort, it does not mean that the reason for this investigation is not serious. It is no secret that initially many diseases do not show any visible signs. Later, over time, the slight pain can develop into exhaustion. That is why pain should be eliminated not with lotions or painkillers, but with competent medical treatment.

Pain in the neck under the jaw

Most often, pain under the jaw and in the neck is associated with lymphatic inflammation or tonsillitis. Both causes are associated with infection entering the body: in the lymph nodes or tonsils.

The following diseases are also included in the category of pathogens causing painful symptoms in the neck under the jaw:

• Migraine is a neurological disease. The pain is usually localized on one side. It becomes more intense in bright light or with a sudden change in lighting; with loud sounds, with strong odors. Migraine is accompanied by intense thirst, nausea, vomiting, visual impairment, visual features: "lightning" or "flies" in the eyes, speech impairment, increased drowsiness. An attack can last from 4 hours to 3 days.
• Carotidynia is one of the types of migraine.
• infectious dental diseases.

Pain under the jaw on the left

Pain under the jaw on the left can be caused by any of the above mentioned reasons, as well as:

• Angina pectoris or myocardial infarction are pathologies associated with blood flow disorders in relation to the coronary vessels of the heart. The symptoms are usually as follows: burning pain in the chest area. Atypical signs include pain under the jaw on the left. With angina pectoris or myocardial infarction, the patient often attributes the acute pain in the jaw area to a bad tooth. Here is another proof that salvation lies not in painkillers, but in professional medical care. Otherwise, a fatal outcome is not an exception.

Pain under the jaw when pressing

Pain under the jaw when palpated or pressed can be indicated by various reasons, for example:

• Neuralgia of the ear node,
• Osteogenic sarcoma,
• Inflammation of the lymph nodes,
• Sialolites.

And this is far from the entire list of possible diseases, each of which has serious consequences. The most reliable way to find out the probable problem is to visit a doctor:

• dentist,
• neurologist (for neuropathological pathologies),
• otolaryngologist,
• surgeon.

Doctors determine pain under the jaw, or more precisely its cause, not only by describing symptoms, but also by performing X-rays and tests.

Pain under jaw when swallowing

As a rule, pain under the jaw when swallowing occurs due to angina, where typical symptoms include signs of colds, in particular, high body temperature, headache, general malaise, weakness. Often, pain from angina radiates to the ear.

A rarer cause of these symptoms is neuralgia of the glossopharyngeal nerve. Here the pain is significantly different from the pain caused by angina. In this case, a person experiences, a kind of attacks, the duration of which is from 1 to 3 minutes.

Pain under the jaw when swallowing may be combined with “shooting” in the ears, loss of appetite – with tonsillitis; with tilting the head to one side – with neuralgia of the glossopharyngeal nerve.

Sore throat under jaw

Pain under the jaw, where the main source is the throat, is formed by:

• angina,
• Pharyngitis is divided into forms and types:

1. spicy:

• provoked by the influence of influencing factors,
• traumatic,
• allergic,
• viral,
• fungal,
• bacterial,
• chronic;

2. catarrhal:

• atrophic,
• hypertrophic,
• mixed.

Acute or catarrhal pharyngitis has some common symptoms, which include pain under the jaw, sore throat, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, loss of appetite, weakness,

• lymphadenitis,
• aphthous stomatitis - in simple terms, ulcerative stomatitis, which of all types of stomatitis is the most complex and painful. A small spot, which does not reach 1 cm in size, immediately appears on the mucous membrane of the oral cavity. After a few hours, a gray erosion of a necrotic nature forms from the white spot. After a few days, the necrotic masses are rejected,
• lingual tonsillitis, which can proceed in different ways, depending on the type of disease:

1. catarrhal,
2. follicular,
3. phlegmonous.

The usual picture of the disease is as follows: the patient experiences severe pain when swallowing, during the movement of the tongue. The main point of the disease is the tonsils, smoothly flowing into the intermuscular and connective tissue, which can subsequently provoke interstitial purulent inflammation of the tongue.

In the phlegmonous type of the disease, where the cause is a mechanical impact on the lingual tonsil, for example, a fish bone gets stuck, there is a sharp pain that increases in intensity during swallowing, an elevated temperature and a deterioration in the general condition.

• peritonsillar and retropharyngeal abscess,
• phlegmon.

Pain under the lower jaw on the left

Any kind of pain and in any place can be caused by anything, for example, injuries, inflammatory or infectious diseases, tumors. The same thing is told to us by pain under the jaw, no matter on the right or left side, from the lower or upper part.

But! In addition to all that has been said, the heart is located on the left side of the human body, and in the case of heart disease, pain usually radiates to the left. Pain under the lower jaw on the left can be caused by heart attacks or angina, the causes and symptoms of which we have already discussed above.

Diagnosis of pain under the jaw

There are several ways to diagnose pain under the jaw, depending on the type of its origin:

• dental,
• based on ENT disease,
• traumatic,
• tumors,
• heart problems,
• neurological.

Initially, a medical examination is performed, after which the doctor prescribes an X-ray. In case of suspected angina or a possible heart attack, the heart function is determined using an ECG.

In addition to X-rays, the otolaryngologist must determine the exact nature of the infection (viruses, bacteria, fungi), and a blood test is therefore inevitable. For example, both tonsillitis and HIV can cause enlarged lymph nodes.

As for tumors, the diagnostic process is much more complicated, since it is necessary to determine whether it is benign or malignant, its stage, the presence of metastases, etc.

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Treatment for pain under the jaw

You can eliminate pain under the jaw with any painkiller, but this will not solve the problem forever. It is necessary to treat the disease itself, namely:

1. jaw injuries:

• dislocation - is corrected by returning the jaw to its original place, after which a fixing bandage is applied to ensure the immobility of the jaw,
• bruise - the most reliable way to give first aid is a cold compress on the injured area and applying a bandage. Then it is necessary to call a doctor (traumatologist), since there is no guarantee that the victim has a bruise, and not, say, a fracture. Plus, the consequences of a bruise can be very serious, for example, dysfunction of the jaw joints or damage to bone tissue. The doctor applies a tight bandage, naturally, after conducting diagnostics. Of course, such treatment of a bruise requires complete rest for the jaw,
• A fracture is the most serious injury. Here, the traumatologist resorts to splinting or intermaxillary fixation. If the fracture is open, then treatment is performed by osteosynthesis of titanium plates.

Folk remedies. Honestly, it's scary to even think that in our time someone can risk their health and resort to folk treatment. In any other situation, herbs and infusions can have a positive effect on the course of events, but in case of injuries, this is very dangerous. Folk treatment techniques can be used in our version as an additional means to the traditional method.

Recipes:

• a leaf of plantain or crushed wormwood should be applied to the area of injury,
• Tincture: vodka - 0.5 l, meadowsweet flowers - 20 g, hernia grass - 20 g, knotweed - 20 g, horsetail - 20 g, blue cornflower flowers - 20 g, corn silk - 30 g, dry bean pods - 30 g, birch buds - 30 g. Then 4 tablespoons of the resulting herbal mixture are poured with vodka, and infused for 3 days. Then strain. The prepared remedy is used for external use in the form of a compress, which should be kept on the site of injury for no more than 4 hours. Duration of treatment is 7 days,
• tincture: vodka - 0.5 l, coltsfoot - 20 g, oregano - 20 g. The method of preparation is the same as the option above. The resulting extract is rubbed onto the sore area, which should be wrapped up. Such manipulations should be carried out at night for 14 days.

2. Treatment of osteomyelitis of the jaws consists of removing the affected tooth. It is clear that there can be no alternative, especially folk remedies and home conditions.

In the process of tooth extraction, the dentist usually resorts to simultaneous opening of purulent foci in the bone, in soft tissues and under the periosteum. Perimaxillary purulent foci are opened surgically (under local or general anesthesia), where intraoral or extraoral incisions are made.

Wounds obtained after surgery must be carefully treated, for example with nitrofuran solutions. The complex of postoperative treatment is determined by the development of complications and the duration of inflammatory processes.

As a result of the normal course of acute osteomyelitis, treatment is prescribed, which includes anti-inflammatory, desensitizing, restorative, stimulating, symptomatic agents. Naturally, we are talking about antibiotics, sulfonamides, nitrofurans, metronidazole preparations, vitamins, painkillers, etc. If we talk about the names of drugs, then again, they are selected for each individual.

Hyperergic course of acute osteomyelitis, where bone necrosis is characteristic, requires more intensive therapy, which has three main methods. The method of treatment is determined by the doctor, based on the stage of the inflammatory process, which can be reactive, toxic and terminal.

Diffuse forms, as well as other types of osteomyelitis, require surgical intervention. There are no clear recommendations regarding medication either, since the treatment method is selected by the doctor in accordance with the available data regarding inflammatory processes, bone damage, etc.

3. Treatment of temporomandibular joint dysfunction should be performed by a dentist, using complex procedures:

• orthodontic therapy aimed at correcting the bite,
• operational implementation,
• "reworking" teeth or prosthetics,
• physiotherapy,
• acupuncture.

Folk remedies are not effective in this case.

4. Treatment of angina usually occurs at home under the supervision of a doctor. Of course, the treatment includes antipyretics (Paracetamol, Nurofen, Flu Cold, Coldrex, etc.), antiviral drugs (Arbidol, Rimantadine, Ribavirin, etc.) and drugs such as Septefril, Sinupred, Furacilin, etc.

In folk medicine, there are many recipes against sore throat, for example, tea with honey. Sea buckthorn oil, if you drink a teaspoon three times a day, not only softens the throat, but is also an excellent antiseptic. Aloe with honey and onion can kill almost any microbes, so drinking a mixture of these ingredients (one to one) a teaspoon 3 times a day can ensure a quick recovery.

It should be said that the treatment of angina depends on the severity, therefore, this issue can only be decided by a doctor, namely an ENT specialist.

If the pain under the jaw is caused by neurological or cardiological diseases, then self-treatment is out of the question. For example, neuralgia of the glossopharyngeal nerve or a heart attack are very dangerous phenomena that necessarily require special monitoring by doctors.

How to prevent pain under the jaw?

It is virtually impossible to prevent pain under the jaw, as there are many reasons for its occurrence, and most often they are related to injuries (prevention is almost impossible) and colds.

A timely dental check-up can protect a person from possible pathology that can cause pain under the jaw. Regarding regular preventive check-ups in general, I would like to say that this is the best solution in relation to the exclusion of all sorts of problems, including a heart attack. An additional plus is the use of vitamins, especially group C in winter; avoidance of hypothermia (drafts) and the intake of too hot or cold dishes; exclusion of stressful situations, which, as is known, have a detrimental effect on the work of the heart.