jaw stiffness

[Lindahole25]

Hi my name is John and I am 25 years old and for the past twelve years twenty four hours a day seven days a week my jaw muscles are very stiff were I feel that I half to keep moving it and its hard for me to talk and smile or do any facial expression without looking really nervous and awkward either know I feel fine, and whats really weird is that if my jaw does feel fine my left eye gets really droopy lazy watery and just feels like theres alot of pressure on it.  I dont think its stress because its never went away and I dont have alot of stress in my life I acutally started taking anxiety medication about 2 years ago and it makes me feel good but it doesnt help the problem I have also worn a night guard thinking that I am clenching but I dont think thats it either, I know this sounds crazy but thats the best way I can describe what I am feeling so if you have any suggestions I would really appreciate it.   Thanks-

[Cocoa_beaver]

After my jaw injury (injury was caused by doctor  performing a routine tooth extraction) I noticed that in flash photos one of my eyes was not responding to (or recovering from?) the flash as rapidly as the other, making me look drunk in photos if a flash was involved.

All the doctors told me the jaw is unrelated to the eye.  I am blind in one eye now.

One of my retinal doctors thinks the root cause might be extremeley prolonged pain and inflammation of the jaw.

-----

Your problem sounds muscular, although joint issues can cause muscular pains.

Ask your doctor about both Glaucoma and Myasthenia gravis as a possible causes as these are unlikely but serious and you'll want to rule them out just to be safe.
I would resist the temptation to take muscle relaxants, and try to find the underlying cause.  Don't be afraid to fire your doctor and find a new one if he is not helping.

It makes sense that when your muscles finally relax your eyelid gets droopy, because that is actually a side-effect of muscle relaxers, though I wouldn't begin to know why it is happening in only one eye.

Finally, take or eat foods rich in B12 and eat bananas to make sure you are not experiencing nutritional deficiencies that are known to cause muscular issues.

Good Luck John

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Thanks for writing in.
It is important to rule out sinusitis and ear infections. I would suggest you to get a complete ENT exam done. Do you have any history of jaw injury?

[selmaS]

have u been to an ENT dr and had ur sinuses checked?......u do not seem crazy to me, I 've had the jaw pain, just recently relented, but I know what u mean, I thought mine was somehow associated with my dx of hashimoto's thyroiditis........

post an update after u seea dr!!

Good luck
Godspeed
"selma"