trapped nerve in side of mouth - Pain Management Message Board

rachaelknight16 · 11-21-2008, 01:04 AM

hi all

I've been suffering with pains in the side of my mouth now for several years. It comes and goes & the doctor said it was stress.
At the moment, I don't feel stressed at all and the pain is really bad.
At the risk of sounding silly, the pain is down the left side of my jaw and feels like electrical pulses! If i move my mouth in a certain position, say i'm brushing my teeth, if the pain starts and i don't move, the pain travels all the way up to my ear and further down my jaw. Its got to the point now where if i turn on my right side in bed, if the ****t catches my jaw, this causes it to tingle.
I've been to the dentist who didn't find anything on the xRay.
i've been to the doctors who said it was stress.
I'm really at the end of my tether now, as it's affecting my life.
I can't even eat properly.

Any help would help!
Thanks and kind regards
Rachael Knight

feelbad · 11-21-2008, 06:43 AM

has anyone suggested you just have an MRI,preferably with a contrasting agent just to see what could be going on there? having the head and the c spine done would be a really great baseline to begin with. some c spine issues can actually cause head/face problems too just because certain nerves actually that start in the head go down to around the c8 nerve junction then loop back up into the head again. an x ray would not even begin to show what really just needs to be looked at,but a contrasted MRI possibly could. if i remeber right,its the trigeminal nerve that runs the way you describe the pain pathway at this point,i would have to double check that tho. but i would most defintiely speak to your doc about the head and c spine MRI. i really do think this would help,at least to rule out or possibly rule in some problems that could create what you have been feeling. has there been ANYTHING at all that will actually help that pain or has nothing, even narcotics actually impacted this pain? that would be telling too as far as what may be generating this. Marcia

rachaelknight16 · 11-21-2008, 12:41 PM

Hi Marcia, thank you for your comments.

I haven't tried pain killers to be honest. As it isn't like a headache or stomach ache, I didn't think pain killers would do much.

The pain only stops if i move my mouth out of the position thats making the pain start (or in some cases like with moving the ****t near my jaw) the pain doesn't need me to actually move my mouth to start hurting

I've booked an appointment with my dr for next weds & i'm not gonna leave until something is sorted.

I'll make sure i feedback your comments

Thank you!!

Rachael.

ouch12 · 11-21-2008, 04:24 PM

Hi,
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nchantng · 11-22-2008, 09:37 AM

Hi Rachael

sorry I only have time for a super quick reply.

Have your doctor/dentist considered some type of neuropathic face pain such as trigeminal neuralgia?

I suffer from this horrible disease. Pain is characterized by sharp, electrical stabs or sometimes burning, boring pain.

In some people, the pain is triggered by light touch on skin, swallowing food, find moving hair in a breeze, brushing teeth.

Nerve pain does not respond well to pain medication ( although many tn sufferers including myself, use in in conjunction with other meds) Nerve pain responds to drugs like lyrica, neurontin and any of the anti-convulsant drugs. For years, the "gold standard" for TN has been the drug Tegretol. Many doctors believe that if the pain responds to tegretol then it is definitively TN. Ask your Dr for something along those lines. It won't hurt, possibly make you a little goofy, but if your pain responds, then you may know which avenue to take.

I'll check the boards later when I get home to see if you get this message. Ask me any questions you would like.

Hugs for you - I know what this kind of pain feels like.

-Heather