Hello,
Thankyou for your query to DoctorSpring.com
From your description, your 30 year old wife has been having jaw pain. Jaw pain can be a manifestation of dental problems (e.g. dental abscess) or an inflammation of the salivary glands (glands which produce saliva) to name a few. How is your wife's dental appearence and has she had a history of multiple dental visits?
It would be helpful to include in your reply, to describe the jaw pain in greater detail (rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, does it move anywhere?, is it associated with pain in the face or behind the ear?)
Also has your wife had a fever or pain while eating or difficulty hearing?
Hope this helps
Patient replied :
hi,
Thanks for replying.
The pain on a scale of 1 to 10 is 6. There is pain in the face and behind the ear when chewing. No fever but face feels hot off an on. No difficulty hearing.
Hello,
Thank you for the follow up.
Well from what you describe the problem could be one of 2 things provide the jaw pain is the only symptom.
One, it could be a dental problem (perhaps an infection of the tooth, gums or salivary gland) which would explain why it hurts while chewing. Therefore I would recommend a visit to the dentist first. It would be advisable while waiting for an appointment for the dentist to use a toothpaste for sensitive teeth, floss daily and eat semi solid food to produce minimal stress to the jaw while chewing. Also since the pain is a 6/10, acetaminophen (tylenol) 500mg taken one pill every 4 to 6 hours is advisable.
The second possibility but one with a low probability is that it could be an ear infection. Although this is less likely since she has no ear pain, loss in hearing, trauma to the ear or ear discharge.
Hope this helps,