Jaw pain on first bite!

[Kutteruk]

I have searched the internet for any other post with a symptom similar to mine but can find nothing at all, so I am here to ask for help.

I suffer from a sharp 'cramp like' pain that kind of fades in and out just as quickly when I take my first bite of food, be it morning afternoon evening etc. This can happen several times a day.

The pain is pretty severe, yet only lasts a few seconds and extends from under my ear down across the front of my jaw and up the other side symetrically.

This ONLY happens on the first bite of food (when I havn't been eating for a while). It feels like my jaw has a reaction to food being put into it initially but then is completely free of pain for the rest of the time i'm eating.

Wait a few hours... Next FIRST bite, same pain few seconds gone...

Anyone have any clue what on earth that may be?

Thanks in advance,

Kutter

[GrandmasterB]

  I get the same pain. On, and only on, the first bite after having not eaten anything for awhile. It doesnt happen  every time though. Usually only if i take a big bite where i have to open my mouth wider than normal, like a sandwich.  Not sure what its called but i think its maybe a combination of the salivary glands beginning to function and the jaw muscles stretching and being used after not being used for awhile.  I didn't have it as a kid but am just hoping its not a vitamin deficiency or something.
  
  I just deal with it lol.  Its painful but mainly more annoying than anything.  When it happens i just pause mid chew and let it pass.

[Sharonda73]

Could it be dehydration?

[picklenjp]

Here's the usual definitioon: "First bite syndrome is characterized as pain in the parotid (salivary gland) gland or lower jaw area (mandibular region) at the first bite and, subsequently improves with each bite. The cause is unclear but, may be related to nerve impairment from surgery or other conditions." (I'm sorry I don't have the source for the quote.)

I inherited it, too. Father, me, my son. At its worst, it bends me over double and has me clutching my jaws and silently screaming. But that's rare after many decades. Now, it's still painful, but I've learned to cope and take precautions, by which I mean taking the very tiniest of first bites, and also the next few.Esp. in public, I'll start a meal by trying water first, or coffee (not juice!), then something very bland, like bread (not sourdough!), and only then carefully dipping a tine of my fork into the other food. If it's bad, I conveniently drop my napkin so I can silently scream under the table. : )

I'm in my seventies now, and after all these years of it, I guess my best advice would be--try not to take it too seriously (there are worse things!), and get used to tiny bites.

Good luck! It has never kept me from gaining weight, lol.

[Mynameisdam]

Haha you're the best!

[Hugoboss94]

Seen sound pretty similar but my case is kind of different, yes its only with the first bite but I'm pretty shure its anything that's solid. I've never felt this with normal soft food like right now I ate like three peanuts in one bite and got an intense what I like to call it "shocking pain" but only in the back bottom of my jaw and only for a couple seconds, the only way I can describe it as if you got a ball of foil and chewed it at the back of your jaw or even biting into icecream

[Tabakki]

I too have this same pain. it started a little over a month ago. I initially thought it was a tooth, so i went to a dentist. nothing on the x ray. went to a doctor, explored the possibility of a blocked salivary gland, ultrasound showed no stone. Back to another dentist, saw a small crack in the last upper molar ...root canal...pain from that has gone, same symptoms. Does anyone else have sharp pain in the ear about 5 minutes after eating that last s minute or two? i do. No idea what this is, but I really want it fixed.

[ivyambrose]

It sounds like yall are speaking of two separate things.  TMJ pain is different than this sharp to tingle/pain when eating food.  It's more like a taste bud pain she is speaking of.  I have the same thing..  when I eat mustard or berries...  as well as my 'first' bites.  ESPECIALLY when I have not eaten in a long time.  I started putting gum in my mouth, mouth rinse, brushing teeth.. do more during the day it it seems to help with this weird happening. It is almost always there in the morning, even if I have plain oatmeal but it is considerably better. This pain happens even if I am sucking a smoothy through a straw.  I am from the dental field.  

[helpmesam]

Today marks one week that I have been dealing with this pain in the jaw and ear. Every time I try to eat it hurts so bad. And only on the first bite. This first entry describes exactly what my symptoms are. Can anyone point me in the direction on what specialist I need to see in order to make this pain stop?? Im seriously down to an all liquid diet because I fear eating and feeling that pain.....

[sisianimal]

I've suffered from TMJ for my entire life (as far back as I remember) and my teeth chatter at night (constantly biting in my sleep, not because I'm cold lol)

I tried everything,  even had my chiropractor stretching out a muscle either side INSIDE my mouth, which helped the pain and discomfort but didn't help the cause.

I spoke to my dentist and he suggested Botox. I thought he was kidding to start with but he gave me the Botox injections directly into the muscles on either side of my jaw (obviously he was trained in this)

My life has literally been saved! I was going thru so much pain, so many headaches and migraines,  just constant, awful pain that was impossible to ignore. I suffer from depression also (I know, right?) And my TMJ added to that because I just never felt rested or even able to function day to day. I was considering taking serious steps.

The Botox saved my life! (That and a bite splint) I can sleep, I can eat, I can function like a normal person now. It's expensive and only lasts for 6 months or so but I don't care because I feel better than I ever have before.

Okay enough rambling but really, if you suffer as badly from TMJ as I do, and you've tried massage, chiro etc. Ask your dentist about Botox. Best decision I ever made!