My whole face HURTS

[OnNaturesCourse]

Well, not all of it but the whole right side.

Started off a week ago now with a bit of TMJ pain (jaw joint pain) that I've had before but it quickly escalated into breathe through type waves of pain radiating up and down my upper and lower jaw. Between the waves it was just the dull ache at the joint. Over the weekend it progressed into a ear ache as well. Yesterday I started getting front tooth pain along with pain around my sinuses (prone to sensative teeth if sinuses are playing up). I've woken up today with the whole right side of my face feeling stuffy like a cold, a horrible taste in my mouth, a very dry and achy throat, sinus pain all along my cheek from nose to mid face, a sinus headache and temple headache, blocked very sore ear and still these waves of pain from my jaw.

I've been taking Ibruprofen and paracetamol regularly, and using tropical pain creams on my jaw and it's all now barely touching the pain - it takes it away to a "manageable" pain level at best.

I've been to the dentist - nothing apparently wrong there just keep using my mouth guard at night for know TMJ / clenching issues.

I finially fell asleep and slept past the 8am rush GP appointment rush so can't see one today.

I'm so so tired having not slept through the night for a week and being in complete, life stopping agony for 70% of the week and in pain for the remaining 30%. I've just hit my limit today and feel miserable so I'm desperately reaching out for ideas on what it could be and any suggestions for pain management? I'll literally try anything right now. I need a break. I need sleep and rest.

I will be phoning GP in morning tomorrow. I dont feel like it's A&E worthy ie not an emergency plus have no child care.

Oh and the jaw pain started after a jaw injury that resulted in a chipped tooth on the other side of my mouth so not sure if it's connected but regardless dentist has ruled out dental issues other than clenching..

I had it like this.

Then l discovered it was toothache, I had mild tmj, but thr toothache was missed, Then l realised my tooth was contributing to it,

What was the tooth ache? Or what treatment was needed? Wondering how my dentist could have missed it

Just needed a filling. Buy it was horrible. Back tooth

Mmm. I am needing a filling but it's on the left side whereas the pain is right.

Glad it was a simple enough fix for you, must have been a relief! I just want to see a end in sight for the pain.

You poor thing. It could be an infection in the sinuses, or throat or ears? Those can feel a lot like dental and facial pain. In which case antibiotics should help.

Has you dentist given you a custom mouth guard to stop grinding/clenching?

Maybe take some codeine based pain relief for now?

If it's persists after antibiotics then ask for an ENT referral.

I hope it feels better soon!

Could be an ear infection. Does it hurt when you swallow? If the Eustachian tube, that allows your middle ear to equalise pressure, becomes inflamed, fluid builds up and you can develop infection.
Since most of the nerves pass through or close to your middle ear it can cause irritation of these nerves.
The pain can hit suddenly or in waves.
Also the Covid virus can cause sinus pain. Everytime I’ve had Covid I have severe sinus pain but no discharge. Covid seems to peak late summer/early autumn after people have been travelling and large gatherings such as festivals. We are also experiencing a very dry summer so pollen is high leading to an increase in hayfever and associated problems.
If you can get a GP appointment then they can check your ear and throat. Tooth problems are not always easy to diagnose early on but as they develop the symptoms become more specific. In a couple of days it may localise to the tooth causing the problem. We frequently see patients over a number of days and it’s just a question of the symptoms progressing that leads to a diagnosis. It’s great being the dentist who sees the patient on the right day but frustrating for the patient and dentists on the lead up.

@DiscoBob no pain to swallow in ears etc but very top of throat is painful and have some pressure in both ears when I do.

Would ear infection pain fluctuate in waves? I always assumed it would be a more constant level pain (having never had a ear infection but my kids have and they are in constant agony with temps etc)

Cross post with @Angrymum22 - thank you. I didn't know it could do that with the waves of increased pain, I just thought it would be a constant sore. I'd have thought by now with the level of pain any dentist issues would have been spotted - I'm nearly at the point of rocking back and forth in agony when the bad flare ups happen. Can't hold a conversation etc when it's bad now.

I get this every year!!! - and I have to go to the dentist to rule out a tooth issue. My face gets so sore I would flinch if anyone tried to touch it. Wearing glasses hurts my nose! It FEELS alien a toothache but there is no problem tooth! I logically know this, because I can have it flare up on the other side of my face, feeling identical!

my gp rightly or wrongly gives me antibiotics and it always goes away.

I’ve had Bell’s palsy three times so I am particularly jumpy regarding face pain. Not suggesting you’ll develop that (it didn’t even present like this) but I feel my sinuses and inner workings can rear up against me when I am very stressed!

Yeah, it can do. I used to get awful ear infections and it did do that as far as I remember. It can feel like your while head is throbbing. It also depends on how you move your head and bending down can make it worse.

So yeah, it could be ear or throat infection. X

@Boobyslims it's horrific, isn't it? And with no break either! I honestly want someone to come and knock me out for a few hours just for a break from it.

I have just taken a allergy tablet in the hope it might help. I'm just shooting in the dark now but figure it's worth a shot with the sinus pain and now my nose feeling blocked on one side (but it isn't actually blocked?!)

@DiscoBob usually with any sinus issues I can't bend over without throbbng pain but I don't have that this time, I do however get an extremely sudden runny nose this time followed by that sore tooth pain so I wonder 🤔 if it's something facial related instead of jaw. or prehaps a combination of things?

It could be more than one thing. I hope it is just a case of some decent antibiotics. Have you got a GP appointment? If you're struggling for one do 111 online and a doctor/medic can ring you back. X

When i get this its like ive been hit with a truck or slapped hard no marks.
It turned out to be a migraine symptom.

That's interesting. I had bad migraines as a teen that presented in feeling like the pressure in the top of my head was off the chart - bit like the pressure in the right side of my face!

When I had pain on one side of my face only the doctor said it was trigeminal neuralgia (sp?) so maybe that?

@afaloren ill look into that - what was your pain management

When I’ve had similar it was sinus related - worth trying some sinutab , otrivine or similar to rule it out. Also use a nice warm flannel in the shower to press onto the face and breathe into

I had sinusitis that made my face hurt and all my teeth felt loose and like they were jarring when I walked or moved. The GP said straight away what it was. It was very painful, antibiotics cleared it.

I've got my hands on some decongestant that has eased the pressure pretty quickly but the jaw pain is still present and really flaring up when I eat 😭

my sinusitis got so bad that I couldn’t even unclench my jaw to eat - so painful- just had to drink through a straw . Get to the drs for antibiotics

OP, I had this and it turned out I had sinus problems. I would be in pain from my eyebrow right down to my neck.

Just seen sinusitis has been mentioned! I had chronic sinusitis and other issues

I agree it sounds like sinusitis.

Thanks all. I've suffered with sinus issues all my life especially during my teens (it's been very mild since then!) but never in my life has it travelled to my jaw - didn't know you had sinuses around the front of your ears. The pain is right there, right where you feel your jaw move if you have your fingers there. I'm feeling a lot better since taking the decongestant, still a dull ache but I managed to eat and drink and no longer feel like chucking myself out the window with pain so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this will be the start of it getting better.