Crunchy jaw, is it a sigh of arthritis?

marie48

My jaw is so crunchy and cracks when I open my mouth and sometimes it is painful to open and chew food. I told hubby it is arthritis and he thought I was joking as he said you cannot have arthritis in your jaw. Anybody on this forum have pain in their jaw?

I feel so low, when will it stop, the arthritis is taking over my body, it started with bad back, now it is knees, neck, shoulder, wrist, fingers, the lists go on. I do not know how I am going to cope and on top of all these I have gallstones which need to be seen to. Most of my joints cracks and crunches, as if they need oiling, it is so difficult to try to be positive when you are in pain. Sorry for the rant, I need to get all these off my chest. Thanks for listening.

tj66

It sounds like your having a rough time. My jaw clicks on occassions-to be honest with everything else, like you, back, neck, ankles and shoulders it comes at the very end of a very long list. I think you can get arthritis in any joint. Might be worth mentioning at your next appointment.

Sorry you're having a hard time and hope you felt better for letting it out on here.

This is all a bit new to me - I'm sure someone with more experience will be along soon and will be more helpfull than I'm able to be.

Take care

Traceyxxx

magenta

Hi Marie,

Unfortunately you can get arthritis in your jaw. I have OA in both sides of my jaw. Sorry to say, my jaw crunches and clicks and sometimes I can't open my mouth.Symptoms are too many to tell! It causes me all sorts of problems and I sympathise with you as I know only too well what kind of pain you must be in. I also have Temperomandibular joint dysfunction which again gives me all sorts of problems. It took over 4yrs to get the help I needed and I'm still at the very beginning of things, treatment wise.
Are you under the care of a rhuemy? I would definitely tell them your concerns.
I use heat on my jaw which helps a little. Are you on medication for your arthritis?
If you want a chat about anything, I'll be here (mostly night-time)or you can PM me.
Try heat and soft food-no apples!!!

Take care,
Magenta x

weejean

Hi Marie

I have OA in all my joints which includes my jaw, like Magenta, I also find that heat soothes the pain and stiffness. When it flares up I dont eat very hard or chewy foods as this makes it worse. Wish I had more positive advice for you and I totally understand that you feel as if the arthritis is taking over your whole body. Make sure you mention your jaw at your next doctor/hospital appointment and take your meds regularly. If you feel the pain dullers are not helping at all you should pop in to see your GP and expain how you are feeling, after all they are there to help you. Hope you feel better soon. Stay strong xx

dreamdaisy

You can indeed have arthritis in your jaw: arthritis affects joints and your jaw is a joint. If you have OA then talk to your GP and see if he can refer to to a dental specialist, if it's RA (or another inflammatory variety) then let your rheumatologist know, your meds may need to be adjusted somehow. I wish you well. DD

jillyb1

Hi , Marie , I too have arthritis in my jaw ; very painful if flaring , it locks and clicks loudly ! Mine is RA and the jaw has played up for years ( due to over use according to my hubby ) , hope it doesn't cause too much discomfort to you and tell your OH , " told you so ! " ; it definitely can affect the jaw . Jillyb

traluvie

Hi Marie..

I too experience clicking of jaw and pain when chewing occasionally..
My Gp told me to go dentist, they xrayed it and all was ok, so be worth to get it checked out..x

marie48

Thanks for all your support and advice, I thought I was imagining it, hubby told me I am always complaining and there are loads of people who are worst than me. I dramatise too much, his idea of helping and supporting me, is for me to rest all day but I told him he should let me go on with my daily chores whilst I can. Friends do not believe me when I say I have got arthritis in my jaw, they think there is no such thing. At the moment the pain and aches are manageable, I am coping with ibugel on shoulder, wrist and big thumb. The jaw is not too bad at the moment but all these clicking and crunching do worry me. I do feel re-assured to know I am not the only one with this problem. I particualrly feel it when I eat french bread. I did mention it to the dentist but will ask for X-Ray next time. I am just worry it is not going to get better as the arthritis seem to be spreading all over bit by bit. I do not take prescribed medication as I found they cause me more problem, I take ibrufen when I have a flare up. Having it in the jaw seems very tough to cope. What are the treatments beside medication? You can have a replacement knee, but not a jaw!! Thanks

MissKat

Hi Marie,

I have arthritis in my jaw on the left side. It comes to say hello every now and then, with a little bit of crunching and a lot of pain - especially when eating... but happy to say it hasn't been by for a while. It really can hurt, and even stop me opening my mouth at times... especially first thing in the mornings.

It seems to have calmed down since starting the Methotrexate which was mainly for me gammy knees, but seems to have helped with the jaw and the wrists too.

Definitely mention it to your doctor or GP.

Hope it gets better soon x MissKat x

magenta

Hi again,

I've been under the care of a new maxillo-facial surgeon for a few months. I say new because I've had dentists, dental consultants (2) and maxfacial surgeons (2) all trying to help me over the past 4yrs. Anyway, this new dr immediately booked me in for a procedure on my jaw.
Bi-lateral arthrocentesis it was called. Basically flushed out both sides of my jaw joint with 'stuff' and injected anaesthetic into them as well. Got it done under a general anaesthetic. The next stage would maybe be steroid injections into jaw but he told me that can sometimes cause more damage. I don't know what the next thing to do will be but you can get joint replacement in your jaw-it's just very tricky. Because mines is OA, they can shave down my joints and try and build it back up. I'm sorry I can't give any advice about RA, only my experience of OA.

I've had mouth splints but that was more for the temperomandibular thing (it didn't help me) and I've had physio and hypnotherapy.
I take amytriptilline (for everything not just jaw), pregabalin (fibro), Etodolac (anti-inflam) and paracetamol. Might also be prescribed methocarbamol to relax the muscles.

It was my dentist that suspected both my probs in the jaw and she referred me to a dental specialist. I would ask to be referred by your dentist.
Hope this helps,
Magenta x