What To Do When You Have Jaw Pain

When it comes to pain in your teeth and mouth, it can really affect your daily mood. Pain in the mouth is usually consistent, present all day, and can impact your speech and eating habits. To put it short, whenever something hurts in your mouth, it’s really annoying. You never actually realize how much you use your mouth until it hurts at every small thing you do. And that’s when it sucks.

Sometimes, the pain originates from a cavity. Other times, it comes from trauma to the area affected. And even other times, it’s completely random or a fluke (which is typically the most annoying, considering you didn’t actually do or neglect anything to make it this way).

But jaw pain is a little different than the pain in your teeth. Tooth pain is particularly bad because the nerves are the ones affected, and so it can hurt severely, causing pain that needs to be treated immediately. The jaw, however, is typically only affected when it’s moving. So long as it’s resting, there’s not typically any soreness.

So possibly it’s from TMJ. Maybe it got hit or dislocated. And sometimes, it can just be sore from clenching too much or unknowingly clenching at night.

No matter the case, there are a few things you can do to relieve a tight or sore jaw.

Pain relief meds

I’m a huge advocate for this one. Ibuprofen has definitely helped with my pain as I’ve dealt with it for a few days, and it can even make eating a bit more bearable. Just remember not to overdo it.

Stretching

This sounds a bit odd at first, but practicing small jaw stretching exercises can help the muscles, cartilage, ligaments, and joints feel better and get healthier. You don’t want to overdo the stretching at first, as it may be too tight to fully open your mouth. But by slowly opening or clenching your jaw to the point that it starts to hurt, holding it for a few seconds, and then releasing, you can help to heal your jaw.

Ice

Icing always seems to help in these situations, especially if your jaw is inflamed. Holding a cold ice pack up to the area for 10 to 15 minutes a time multiple times a day can reduce any swelling in the area while also numbing some of the pain. (Heating can also be beneficial to help speed up healing if you have a heating pad to hold up against your face.)