Got a sore jaw: how come?

September 4, 2008 5:44 PM

Tender under jaw where it meets the neck. Anyone know why?

I'm a teacher and have to speak a lot each day. I've just started back up for the fall. I also wear a tie each day. I've noticed that under my jaw, where it meets my neck, just above the adam's apple it is sore. I can be even more specific, it doesn't feel sore unless I take my thumb and forefinger and press upwards on each side of my jaw just above the adam's apple. Do any of those previous reasons have possibilities? I wonder if the tie strains agains the neck, and if there's another way of tying it which alleviates this pressure.

Disclaimer, I smoke between 2–3 cigarettes a day and am a young man.

I'd go to the doctor, and probably will, but I thought I'd throw it out here before having to go through all the rigamorale.

posted by fantasticninety to health & fitness (11 comments total)

Here's a link that may or may not be helpful. Did I mention I'm not a doctor? I'm not a doctor. See your doctor!
posted by hot soup girl at 5:51 PM on September 4, 2008

Mumps, if by chance (or design) you didn't have the childhood vaccination. It infects the parotid, or salivary glands, which are what you're talking about. IANAD, SYD. And cut out the smokes, regardless.
posted by beagle at 6:33 PM on September 4, 2008

Could be a salivary gland infection.
posted by driveler at 6:35 PM on September 4, 2008

got tooth problems? could be an infection that is draining into your neck.
posted by drmarcj at 7:20 PM on September 4, 2008

Sometimes I get an ache in that area* when I'm stressed (also a smoker - yes, I was worried about tonsils or glands or something, but I'm not too worried about it now).

I figured that one of two things caused this for me; fake smiling all day or gritting my teeth at night.

Making sure that I'm really hydrated when I feel that soreness helps, so I'm guessing that it's a muscle thing (for me).

*is it the jaw bone or the soft spot above the adams apple just inside the ridge of your jaw? Mine's the latter.
posted by porpoise at 9:11 PM on September 4, 2008

How long has it been? If it's only been a few days, it's probably swollen lymph nodes, which generally means that your body is fighting a low grade infection. But it never hurts to get these things checked out.
posted by kattyann at 9:42 PM on September 4, 2008

I periodically get matching soreness in exactly that spot, and when I asked my doctor about it, while pressing my fingers to the location to show here, she told me to suck on a lemon drop, and that would help. I think it's something about the citrus?
posted by redsparkler at 10:55 PM on September 4, 2008

Have you performed hardcore cunnilingus in the last day or so? No joke, it's happened to me.
posted by OuttaHere at 6:38 AM on September 5, 2008

My intuition is that the culprit is probably a simple infection.
My second guess is that you might just have pooped out jaw muscles from talking a lot. You are, after all, a teacher. :)

Seriously, though, you'll need a doctor to poke around in order to tell what's happening. Mouth and throat issues are incredibly hard to self-diagnose, because so many different problems present is very similar ways (swelling and pain).

Let us know what the doctor says. :) And, feel better!
posted by Citrus at 7:32 AM on September 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thanks for all the responses so far.
– Mumps: I've never had the vaccine so it's theoretically possible.
– tooth: again, a possibility.
– Lymph nodes: I've had swollen lymph nodes before and my doctor has told me in the past that they are larger than average and prone to inflammation.
– Lemon drop: interesting! Is that like a little mint type thing that you put in your mouth and suck on? I'll have to check google to verify.
– Cunnilingus: my jaw HAS felt like that in the past, but I don't think it's the cause for my pain this time.

I'll check with doctor and give back the diagnosis.
posted by fantasticninety at 9:35 AM on September 6, 2008

It's a six weeks into the teaching year, and basically I'm convinced it was just my jaw being sore from not having spoken so much over the summer. It's just tough on your body at the beginning of the year (I couldn't find anything else wrong with me).
posted by fantasticninety at 3:52 PM on October 9, 2008