My Face Is Killing Me

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

26 Jun 2007 05:25 AM

Yes, you read that correctly - my face is killing me. I mentioned my migraine last week and the difficulties of coping with it and trying to get over it. What gets more interesting is that Saturday morning, I woke up in pain - my face hurt. The pain was with my jaw - opening my mouth, closing my mouth and don't get me started on chewing. The pain came in pulses, when the pulses were on - I felt nearly blind with the pain and the relief afterwards was intense.

I went to the see the doctor at one of those little Fast ER care places because I couldn't take it anymore. Maybe a crown or a filling came loose or maybe I had a huge abscess - or something. The doctor did the exam and he considered TMJ an option. Temporo-Mandibular Joint is the part where your jaw attaches to your skull. If it becomes inflamed, well - it can be exceptionally painful. He gave me some painkillers and antibiotics and advised me to see a dentist first thing Monday.

Excruciating Weekend

The weekend passed by in an excruciating haze. I took my daughter to see a movie to try and distract myself. I did what I could - but between the painkillers, the pain and the inability to really chew - it was a misery. Flash-forward to Monday, I call my dentist and get an appointment to see them ASAP. While sitting in the dental chair, they do X-Rays and the dentist does an exam. There is a slightly loose crown, but no sign of inflammation in the mouth.

I do have a wisdom tooth on the move, but again - no inflammation. There might be a small infection around that loose crown, but not enough to justify the pain I'm in. Wait - the dentist tests something and I feel that agony all over again - aha. So what is the bad news, doc?

I have a charley horse in my face.

No, don't laugh - because laughing right now really hurts. The doctor is serious, the muscle in my cheek, along my jaw - is cramped and for lack of a better term - pulled. The likely causes are tension, stress and my migraine. During the pain of the migraine, I may have been gritting my teeth or clenching my jaw - the excessive clenching and gritting pulled the cheek muscle and cramped it - and then you got it, once it was in pain, I kept clenching and now it's one giant charley horse in my face.

And even as I type this, I'm trying not to laugh - smiling, chewing, laughing - anything that causes me to move my face hurts. It would be hilarious if not so painful, I didn't even know you could pull a muscle in your face.

So What Do I Do?

You treat it as you would any other severely pulled or injured muscle - hot compresses (using moist heat) to help relax the muscle; massaging the area to loosen it; stretching exercises to help relieve the tension and muscle relaxers to help along the way.

So - I pulled my face. I can't wait until I can smile about it. Have you ever done something like this?

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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ljb (3939) 26 Jun 2007 06:31 AM

'So - I pulled my face' Hilarious! I hope you recover soon. Thanks for the laugh!

Pam Connell (2658) 27 Jun 2007 12:08 AM

I really do have TMJ (and migraines partly caused by a herniated cervical disk) and I do remember my face cramping up in a literal charley horse a couple of times. I managed to massage it out before it got too bad (or at least before it got worse than the headache).

Good luck.