Horrible jaw pain without a cause.

Horrible Jaw Pain without a cause... whats causing it?

• Yesterday morning at work my jaw just started hurting.. more and more until the pain peaked, and it hasn't really improved. I didn't hit it on anything, nor did anything hit it. No impact, nothing that should cause pain. But the jaw joint on my right side kills, it is excruciatingly painful to open my mouth wide or to clamp down. Sometimes I can't even seem to be able to close my jaw completely on the right side. Chewing food is almost impossible.. i dont know what to do, painkillers dont help and I don't think it's my wisdom teeth coming in because the pain is wayy up high at the jaw joint, inches away from where my wisdom teeth would be coming in. This is how i would expect to feel if someone punched me in the side of the face and it got dislocated... but like I said, the pain came on slowly all by itself. I'll probably have to see a doctor. Anyone have an idea what this is?

• Answer:

  Teeth and the rest of the body are funny things. There is a condition called referred pain. One place hurts but the real problem is somewhere else. It may be a tooth that has an abscess or wisdom teeth that are impacted-(meaning they are growing in sideways and hitting other teeth causing pressure) but not the ones in pain, it usually has to settle down to find the right one. See a Dentist to be checked. They can x-ray and possibly find the problem. Also you may have TMJ in your jaw which is a misalignment of the jaw and when it acts up it can cause the jaw to lock, has been associated w/ migraine headaches and facial pain. Do not ignore it, go to a Dr or Dentist and get evaluated for this issue before it becomes more involved.