Jaw Pain?

[anothereveryman]

As I mentioned before, my surgery went as well as expected and maybe a little bit better than that. I'm still only about a week out of the hospital, but the surgery-side (left) of my jaw is very tender and it's painful to chew anything with any signifigant resistance. I had the behind-the-ear translab approach to my surgery and I'm not sure how exactly my jaw got involved in it but it stands out as a lasting post-surgery problem.

My question is: do I need to lay off entirely on chewing, especially on that side? I try to go easy but it's hard to eat much of anything available without at least a little discomfort. Does this go away eventually? I have no taste changes, facial weakness or that sort of thing.

[anothereveryman]

Nobody had this issue? At all?

I worry now. Did something go wrong with the surgery that I should inquire about?

[Cheryl R]

It is not unusual to have the jaw pain.     I have heard of it more with mid fossa than the other ways.     The muscle  can be cut and also how your head was held for the long period of time.          I think some who have had it and also some of us older posters here haven't been on here as much.      You can try Tylenol or ibuprofen for it.  Try putting some heat on it.        I would try not over doing the chewing on that side.   You might have it for a few weeks even.      Just try for what works best for you.                 If eventually it is not getting slowly better or the pain worsens than let the surgeon know.                  I am sorry you never got your questions answered soon.      I was out of town for a relatives funeral for a few days  so had seen it.            I do know it is annoying as have it too.
                                                              Cheryl R

[anothereveryman]

It is not unusual to have the jaw pain.     I have heard of it more with mid fossa than the other ways.     The muscle  can be cut and also how your head was held for the long period of time.          I think some who have had it and also some of us older posters here haven't been on here as much.      You can try Tylenol or ibuprofen for it.  Try putting some heat on it.        I would try not over doing the chewing on that side.   You might have it for a few weeks even.      Just try for what works best for you.                 If eventually it is not getting slowly better or the pain worsens than let the surgeon know.                  I am sorry you never got your questions answered soon.      I was out of town for a relatives funeral for a few days  so had seen it.            I do know it is annoying as have it too.
                                                              Cheryl R

Thank you for the reply! It means a lot to me, and gives me some hope that this improves with time. For now most of what I eat, even things that are not crunchy or require wide jaw opening, give me pain. Even talking has these once-in-a-while sensations of pain that jolt up my jaw on that side, brief but distracting. I can speak just fine, so it suggests that (hopefully) there isn't paralysis of any sort and that there's room to heal.

Food seems to taste normal, except for some reason cheerios, which give me a weird "tongue feels raw like I just bit it" sensation even if they taste fine enough. I might be over looking into this, but it can definitely color a day when a bowl of cereal is challenging.

[volleymom]

Hi Everyman,
I had jaw pain in the first weeks after my surgery, I think it was from stress and clenching my jaw.  Look up TMD or temporomandibular disorder on Web MD for a better explanation.
It will get better with time. Move your head around to loosen the neck muscles.

Sorry for the slow response, I haven't looked at the forum very often recently.

[john1455]

The jaw pain you are experiencing is most likely referred pain from the muscles involved in chewing. There are 4 sets of these muscles (masseter, temporal, medial pterygoid and lateral pterygoid) and trauma, stress, or strain on any or a combination of them can cause tenderness or pain when chewing. This should resolve slowly over several months and all you need to do is let comfort be your guide. If you chew or bite something and it causes discomfort, then let up immediately and stop eating whatever you were eating. I am a DDS, retired after 32 years in private practice, and TMJ treatment was one of my specialties. I dealt extensively with muscle disorders that caused TMJ problems and jaw pain.

[anothereveryman]

The jaw pain you are experiencing is most likely referred pain from the muscles involved in chewing. There are 4 sets of these muscles (masseter, temporal, medial pterygoid and lateral pterygoid) and trauma, stress, or strain on any or a combination of them can cause tenderness or pain when chewing. This should resolve slowly over several months and all you need to do is let comfort be your guide. If you chew or bite something and it causes discomfort, then let up immediately and stop eating whatever you were eating. I am a DDS, retired after 32 years in private practice, and TMJ treatment was one of my specialties. I dealt extensively with muscle disorders that caused TMJ problems and jaw pain.

Thank you for the encouragement and the advice. It's very hard to avoid chewing altogether, but I got some softer things like oatmeal and applesauce and may have more of that in the future.

I have a weird salty sensation on the tip of my tongue when I eat if anything touches there, and I assume that's some kind of nerve damage. I hope that heals too, at least a little.