Clicking Jaw From Fibromyalgia?

Question

Can fibromyalgia cause one's jaw to spontaneous click, especially when relaxing?

Answer

Yes, absolutely. Fibromyalgia can make your muscles tighten throughout your body. That can include tightening of the jaw muscles used in chewing, which are the muscles in the area from your forehead to just in front of your ears above your lower jaw. If that happens, your jaw may make a clicking sound when it moves. Though this isn't especially problematic, it can be painful.

Resolving this discomfort requires treatments to relax the muscles around your jaw. Some dentists consider any jaw joint pain or clicking to be a condition called TMD, or temporomandibular joint dysfunction. They often recommend anything from making sure your bite is balanced to considering jaw surgery.

They may also do a CAT scan or X-ray to check if jaw joint arthritis is present. But research shows that these X-rays are usually unnecessary, as most people have wear and tear arthritis in their jaw and other joints that aren't causing problems, and the scans don't correlate jaw movement to jaw pain any better than chance. Resulting in unnecessary jaw surgery (Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (2012) 41, 126-130).

It is easy to tell if the pain is coming from the muscle rather than the joint. Put your thumb in the side of your mouth (aimed at the ear on that side that hurts and with your index finger placed over your cheek pressed against the tip of your thumb. You’ll find that the thin area of your cheek soon gives way to the thicker area of muscle about 2 inches wide in front of your ear. Squeeze that thickened area between your thumb and forefinger (press hard). If it hurts like the dickens and reproduces the pain, it proves that pain is coming from that muscle — not the joint. The muscles then simply needs to be released.

I usually find that this issue can be resolved by addressing the overall fibromyalgia with the S.H.I.N.E.® protocol to help muscles release in general, and by using a compounded prescription topical pain cream on the jaw muscles. Your physician can call this in to a compounding pharmacy by telling the pharmacist that you need a topical pain cream for jaw joint and muscle pain (please note that compounded medications are not covered by insurance). After six weeks, most people find their joint issues to be largely resolved, and without the need for surgery. If it persists, your dentist may suggest therapies to ensure your bite is even and balanced, such as using a rubber bite piece at night similar to what's used to treat teeth grinding. 

For most people with fibromyalgia, a clicking jaw isn't anything to be concerned over and can simply be ignored. But I wanted to give you the above heads up in case you find yourself getting dragged into these other choices, so that you have the information needed to make informed decisions.