BS: jaw wouldn't close

Subject: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 11:17 PM

After a couple nights of a clicking noise in my jaw, one morning the sticking point on the left side wouldn't allow the jaw to close. I forced it and BAM a loud noise that nearly made my ear ring loosened the joint and has been free since. However there is a subtle cool sensation in that ear along with a slight fullness.
I never had an ear infection tha didn't hurt.

The last time I went to the doctor after hitting my head I was made to feel a bit hypochodriacal. It seems as long as I wasn't bleeding from my ears a good ol hit on the head that compressed my neck is nothing to worry about.

Is this jaw thing fairly common?

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: bobad
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 11:21 PM

Check out TMJ disease.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 11:29 PM

yes, I've had minor episodes of that...kind of an 'out of place' feel. It happened a couple times after a big yawn. Had to relax and wiggle it gently.

It never was bad, and I haven't had it recently.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 11:38 PM

>>I forced it and BAM a loud noise <<

Oh crap I saw the thread title and this is what I didn't want to see. It sounds very much like a displaced meniscus in the TMJ. I had the same thing, and a regular dentist didn't know what to do. So I went to an oral surgeon and he just manipulated it with his smallest finger and slid it back into place. Get thee to an oral surgeon.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Slag
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 12:19 AM

Do NOT let them operate on the jaw. It could mean a lifetime opf pain and migraine. If your jaw hangs up every-so-often so be it. There was some dentist in Petaluma selling a "teflon-like" glide path he would surgically implant into the jaw. I know two people personally whom he ruin and heard of several others suffering the same. I believe the proceedure has been banned in CA.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Metchosin
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 12:34 AM

Oral surgeon? my regular dentist is a whizz at clicking them back in and painlessly too.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 12:53 AM

Only happened once to me. I gently wiggled it back into place and went to see a doctor and a dentist. Both said watch and see.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Bert
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 01:08 AM

...jaw wouldn't close...

I used to have a wife like that.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: GUEST,ozchick
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 05:07 AM

I'm a dental nurse in my spare time(?!) and it definitely sounds to me like you've dislocated the disc in your TMJ. An oral surgeon should be able to manipulate it back in place without surgery (try not to have surgery)... also a physiotherapist with a specialty in TMJ could help you by giving you exercises to do regularly. Maybe you could have a splint made up by a dental technician to help you keep your jaw relaxed at night. (Physio and Tech AFTER the oral surgeon)

Good luck!!

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 10:29 AM

Thanks to everyone. Seeing that I apparently snapped it back into place "BAM" I think I can safely forgo medical intervention.
I probably used more than 20 lbs of force which is only about a third of what the jaw muscles can exert in lbs per square inch.
I'll probably do a course of Cephalexin for the minor ear problems that love this time of year.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 11:12 AM

Donuel,
If it happens again, just gently manipulate it until it falls back into place. BAM could equal a fractured bone and surgery.
It is a creepy feeling but be gentle.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Metchosin
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 11:53 AM

Agreed Sinsull. Whatever my dentist did, required very little physical force or pressure and took only a few seconds. It was a very odd sensation. He said it was one of the little tricks he'd acquired. My jaw used to click out quite often and since the manipulation it has never done it again in over 10 years.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Scrump
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 12:06 PM

That used to happen to me years ago, i.e. occasionally I would yawn and find I couldn't close my jaw normally without moving it from side to side to sort of free it up.

I don't know why, but the problem went away years ago and it doesn't seem to happen anymore. I figured I must have accidentally dislodged it somehow and accidentally set it right again later.

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: GUEST,ozchick
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 03:59 PM

sorry, but i still think you should see someone - "coolness in the ear" sounds like maybe you've damaged a nerve or something with the BAM...... just my opinion, but antibiotics won't help that...

Subject: RE: BS: jaw wouldn't close
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 10:11 AM

I had something like that happen--probably was the popping out (dislocation) that I heard, when I did a big yawn one time. It took a while before it stopped feeling odd. I'm careful with large yawns now, to avoid doing that again. It's good to know that there might be a manipulation to correct the problem. I'll ask at my next dental appointment, in case I need it again.

SRS