Jaw Swells Up When Eating - My Solution

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Main Question - Posted From Guest:
I thought this info may help others, so I will tell you what worked for me. My jaw was swelling up when eating, the area right behind the jaw and in front of the ear and under the ear was swelling up everytime I ate food or drinks. It was only happening on one side of my face, not both sides. This started roughly 1 week ago, I thought it was a lymph node on the neck behind my jaw but then realized this was only happening when I ate food, and in the morning the swelling was all the way down. This is a salivory gland called the parotid gland, and obviously it was swelling because the saliva had no way out, after going to see an ENT (ear, nose and throat doctor, which by the way if you have this and need to go to a doctor, then an ear nose and throat doctor is who you want to go to, they are specialists so don't just go to a regular clinic). Anyways I went to an ENT after 1 week and he looked up in my mouth with a little mirror, then lightly rubbed the gland towards him in front of my ear. What he was looking for was to see if any fluid came out, and it did. He also told me it was clear, so he knew the parotid gland wasn't infected. He didn't think a stone was blocking the parotid gland duct, because he saw fluid come out. These are all things he told me. Anyways he also felt both sides of the jaw and under the ear, to see if he could feel anything "growing" in there, which he said doesn't seem to be an issue. So his guess was that I just wasn't taking in enough fluids, and that the saliva mucous was probably thickened and blocking the paratid gland ducts and not flowing freely as it should. He told me to spend the next week using a heat pad on the gland (to heat up and loosen the saliva) and to drink ALOT of water. He said 8 glasses a day or more, and that I should be going to the bathroom constantly throughout the day to really keep it flushed out and well hydrated in the parotid gland. He said if that didn't work I should come back for a CT scan so they can see if there is anything up in there blocking it like maybe a stone further up, etc. I figured for sure this wouldn't work, but I drank cups of water constantly for the next 6 days, and it was still swelling when I ate, everytime is swelled I put heat compress on it and tried to lightly milk it forward with the heat (as if trying to push it out, but that really didnt' seem to do much). When I got home from work I drank a HUGE glass of water each day, which was probably 3 huge glasses worth, so I just wanted to make sure I was very well hydrated. On the 7th day I ate food and the ear and jaw didn't swell up! I was shocked! Something eventually did free or just rehydrated. I was actually going to call him that day and schedule the scan, I figured for sure it wasn't working. The bottom line here is that this probably also shows the importance of drinking plenty of water, I will make sure to continue drinking some water going forward. Hopefully this info helps others who may have the same issue. He did say also that sometimes a tiny stone can flush out also if it is being blocked up in the duct, as getting well hydrated and eating food creates alot of pressure in the parotid gland and can force stuff out of that duct.

Guest Says:
A couple other things I forgot. Make sure if your jaw is swelling that it is ALSO going down! He told me to make sure its going down when done eating (mine stayed swollen a good 15-20 minutes and gradually went down during that time when done eating in case you are wondering). It was also tender throughout the day, and thats caused from the swelling that occurred everytime I ate some food. If you have this I certainly recommend going to a ear nose and throat doctor, they are also called Otolaryngology doctors. So if you are having trouble finding a doctor under ENT then look for Otolaryngology doctors which are the same thing. It's important to have them check it out as they can remove a tiny stone in the duct if necessary, and its important to make sure you don't have an infection in your gland.

Guest Says:
You have to flush it out good, drinking alot of water for days in a row is a good solution to help here.

Guest Says:
It sounds wierd but people dont drink enough water, and that can actually cause this. Drink a good 7 or 8 glasses a day to rehydrate for a full week, it can take this long but the mucus in the gland will get soft and flush, and even help flush the gland if it is a stone

Dan Says:
A good heat pad is those plastic like things with gel inside. They can be thrown in the freezer or microwave and reused, very good to have around the house as you can reuse them! It helped me when my jaw swelled just like this, microwave for 30 seconds and hold it on the swelling for 3-5 minutes and massage with it as if you are flushing it down lightly. Don't press hard as its already tender! The heat helps, but make sure its draining as stated and not staying swollen for long time.

Dan Says:
Also helping to flush it by eating sour candy or spicy food really helps, whatever it takes to build the pressure with saliva! Sour candy works real well, either the lemon drop candy or sweet tarts really gets it flowing.

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