Some time in the morning last week, I experienced a sharp pain in my right jaw when I yawned. Seeing as I was experiencing a bout of chest/nasal congestion, I thought it was some weird sore throat thing that spread to my ear. So I didn’t think much of it. Then I realized that I couldn’t really chew foods like I normally could, as the right jaw experienced pain whenever I tried to chew something relatively hard, like carrots. But I still ate as usual, with my left jaw doing most of the hard chewing. I thought it was some weird isolated dental problem that would improve in a short while.

But the problem continued. This sharp pain in my right jaw occurred whenever I yawned, or opened my mouth wide, and as I said, I couldn’t really chew with the right side of my mouth. I started to worry that I had a cavity. But brushing my teeth didn’t hurt, nor did flossing. So that couldn’t be right either.

I then figured that it might be some weird sinus infection that had spread to my ear, because the pain was isolated around the ear muscle. But this was a complete self diagnosis, and besides, I still had trouble chewing and eating. So I went to the doctor earlier today, to have her look at it. Her diagnosis was immediate — I had a problem around my TMJ, otherwise known as the temporomandibular joint.

The temporomandibular joint is a sliding ball and socket joint located near the ear, and is an integral part of the jaw. Apparently tight muscles (caused by stress, teeth clenching, and poor posture) can cause this muscle to tighten up. This pulls the upper and lower jaw closer together, putting pressure on the joints. I think my recent stress levels plus the cold/cough I was experiencing helped to exaggerate the problem.

So the solution? Wait it out. Relax the jaw, do some jaw exercises, put on a cold compress to reduce swelling or a moist towel to reduce pain. Take some ibuprofen when in pain, and maintain a soft food diet until the pain subsides. The doctor said that if it gets really bad, I can look into getting a mouth guard to stop teeth clenching at night. Mouth guards are pretty expensive, so I think I’m going to wait this out for now.

That’s the last thing I need… a jaw joint problem where I’m forced to eat mushy foods. But I guess that’s the price I pay for getting so easily stressed out.

Now it’s time for dinner. Mmm.. jook and soup for the next few days. And hey, I can still have ice cream. I guess things could be worse.

(Above image from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons)