Head, neck, ear and jaw pain

Hello,
I have no idea if there is anyone out there that could help me but I have run out of options and feel like I can just loose it at any moment.  I have for about 12 years been dealing with constant jaw pain and it has only gotten worse with the years.  Now for about a two years I have had major pain in my left ear.  It is so bad sometimes that all I can do it cry.  Now....I have started pressure in the back of my head and neck, were it is even hard to hold my head up sometimes.  I have been to at least 10 dr.'s and even had sinus surgery twice thinking that would help!  Nope, just out thousands and thousands of dollars and bills so big that my family and I are struggling.  I just don't know what to do or where to turn?  I am 32 years old and take more pills then an 90 year old takes.  Anyone have any ideas for me?!

Thank you

[laur08]

It breaks my heart to hear this pain and suffering you have gone through, but it sounds like similar symptoms to mouth, jaw and ear cancer that my mother is going through. Also,  my mother just underwent surgery for a lesion
( the size of a small lime) on her upper pallet on the inside roof of her mouth. Not to mention, that she suffered for years with head pain, jaw pain ( excrutiating) sinus troubles, severe neck pain, and mostly ear aches. They told her it was "sensative ears",  and they told her it was Vertigo. This went on for many years, they gave her pain meds that only harbored the troubles.  Now, I am very mad that her doctor(s) could not have found out about the cancer until the lesion showed up.  Come to find out after at least ten years with this it was cancer growing inside her ear, jaw and mouth.

Well, I wish you the best, and...... You better get some ear and head xrays from a cancer  specialist and ask for the tests or whatever they do to detect the issues you are having as they sound serious, I am not expert, but hearing your symptoms makes me think, sadly enough, that it can be cancer. I am not trying to alarm you but you should look into a cancer center and have tests.

Now my mom lays in the hospital trying to regain her speech, hearing, sense of smell,sense of dignity, and it is very sad. Also it is sad because she never smoked or drank and took good care of herself for 77 years. And now I cry just thinking that it all started with her having ear aches. We do not take things like that forgranted now, and not only is her life quality of life on the line, she may not be cancer free or even survive this ordeal!!

I wish you the best of luck and go get a head and neck cancer specialist to check you out completlyl!  I would demand it we even had to travel out of our area to a cancer treatment center.

[selmaS]

......yes u need a good dr and u need tests done to get to the root of ur symptoms....I have jaw and ear pain due to a thyroid condition, along with the neck/throat pain and sinus troubles including post nasel drip which gives me the same cough u described...alot of symptoms fit many different conditions.....what u need to do is get a dx.....try a good rhumetoid dr or a ENT or endo...I don't know the area u r from, but I am sure u can find  qualified dr.

Good luck
Godspeed
"selma"

[Shavon488]

Have you ever heard of TMJ? I have it and it can cause these symtoms (symptoms). Ask your Dr./dentist. Good luck!

[flowerferrie]

My name is Kimberly and I have severe pain in my jaw joint and my ear and running down my neck...have also had alot of pain in this right shoulder...and now I have some knots coming up in my right breast...are all these connected...my whole right side of me hurts....I have a hunch that it is all connceted to something being pinched in my back but went to a chiropractor and the 1st visit gave immediate relief....the 2nd caused more pain...don't know what to do next?

[amigan_99]

After 7 months of symptoms similar to yours - I am still not sure if neck problems cause the jaw pain (and facial pain and ear pain lower back pain) or if TMJ disorder causes it all.  What is helping:

-Wearing a neck brace (inexpensive - get it at the pharmacy) seems to help.  Espcially at the end of the day when my neck is tired.
-Sleeping on my back.  I used to sleep on my stomach - arms and lega akimbo.  I think this put a lot of pressure on my neck and jaw.  
-Muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprene will give me a break from symptoms when they get very bad.  But I don't like to use it because it makes me so sleepy and out-of-it.

What did not help
-Chirpractor - actually made it WORSE when she blasted the "Activator"straight on my jaw.  OUCH!!  Rang my bell.
-Acupuncture.  Made for a relaxing time if I was not in the middle of an episode.  But if I was mid-flare-up then acupunture made things worse.
-Nasal surgery - made for easier breathing but didn't help my jaw et al symptoms.  
-Oxycodone - gives me a little pain vacation but makes me out of it and nothing gets better.
-Ibuprofen or Naproxen Sodium - these do nothing at all to mask this intense pain.

[ajtaurus]

I have been in pain for 5 years.  It started out like a sinus headache around my eye on the right side and cheek.  Also had pain in my jaw very similar to TMJ. I went thru so many meds and doctors. Had many xrays, MRI's, etc. Each day my headache was on the right side of my head. The pain traveled down my neck, into my ear and on my shoulders.  My ear felt like it was muffled or swollen inside. I have been taking pain medicine everyday just to function. I have missed many days of work over the years because of the pain and many times had thoughts of suicide because I didn't think I would ever get relief.  The other day I saw my dentist for a tooth ache that was pretty bad.  The tooth was on the bottom right and the second he pulled the tooth, I felt something change.  It was almost as if the tooth had been removed from a nerve. I couldn't believe it. It's been 2 days since I had the tooth pulled and I'm a little sore around my jaw and the muscles in my neck are sore, but the tension and pain that I used to have on the right side of my face and head seems to have gone away.  I looked online and saw that the trigeminal nerve spreads to all of the places on my face that were in pain.  Could it be that a rotten tooth was the culprit all these years?!!  I pray that it is true and hope that by sharing this, that others will perhaps check to see if they could be having the same problem and find relief.