EXCRUCIATING tooth/face/ear pain- no idea what it could be!

[Soreface]

Had the strangest thing last night and no idea what it could be. I had a few niggling pains in my tooth over the last couple of days, but nothing particularly terrible and it was only brief.

Last night I ate a late dinner due to work, brushed my teeth like normal and then went to bed. At no point did my face or tooth hurt at all.

I woke up a couple of hours later with what I can only describe as being the worst pain I’ve ever felt. I couldn’t point exactly which tooth hurt, it felt as if all of them (upper left) were throbbing and my gums hurt to press. When I pressed my tongue against all my teeth, I could feel one was slightly more painful than the rest- this tooth has a filling. My cheekbone area was really painful and my left ear and jaw were both throbbing too- it actually woke me up from a sleep and I thought I was going to throw up with it. I took paracetamol and made a hot water bottle to try and hold against it but neither really helped. The whole left side of my face hurt when my mouth was both open and closed, when I closed my teeth together and even when I just left it alone.

I’ve never sobbed with pain so much in all my life and considered calling NHS24, but it was during the night and I have an important day at work today so I thought I’d try and work through it with painkillers and maybe see a dentist on Wednesday. I was probably up for an hour or so and then somehow fell back asleep.

I’m not sure how relevant this is but I popped a whitehead spot (I know I shouldn’t have but it’s so hard to ignore them!) just before going to bed, and it was sitting right on my left cheekbone, although this wouldn’t account for the tooth and ear pain besides my tooth had been slightly painful on and off leading up to this.

I woke up today expecting a long day of it being excruciating (I thought maybe an abscess) but it has been absolutely fine and the paracetamol from during the night will have well worn off by now. It doesn’t hurt to touch my face at all, my teeth don’t hurt and my ear is fine. There’s no throbbing pain anywhere on the left side of my face and it doesn’t feel any different to the right. I expected with an abscess I would be climbing the walls with pain today!

What the heck could this be?!

I also thought trigeminal neuralgia mainly because it’s an excruciating pain for a while then it’s totally gone just like that.

I have a different neuralgia that has the same effect and it is incredibly painful.

It’s hard to diagnose because there is so much going on in that area. A doctor will probably want to rule out ear issues, tooth issues, TMJ, and sinusitis before diagnosing neuralgia.

You see a neurologist for treatment. I take gabapentin which kind of holds it at bay.

Huge sympathies to the other neuralgia sufferers on here.

A second vote here for possible teeth clenching? I had this and the facial pain was awful, my dentist made me a splint to wear at night which sorted the problem out.
Hope you feel better soon

I hope it’s not trigeminal neuralgia. I have a severely mushed up spine (and have regular microfracturing because my body hates me) and I would rather eat glass covered live wasps whilst having a sciatica/another disc malfunction, with a side of 1 million Scoville unit Scorpion pepper extract being smeared into my eyes by Piers Morgan, and being simultaneously being poked up the bottom by Boris Johnson wielding a red hot poker than have to think about having a trigeminal neuralgia attack again. I’ve had it since 2007 & have been wearing masks to prevent cold air triggering it since well before COVID was a twinkle in a virology lab’s eye.

I’ve settled on pregabalin to knock the blooming pain into touch (helps with the spinal stuff too) after years of being prescribed anti epileptic & neuro transmitter disrupter drugs (just taken my lunch dose, hence why my brain has fallen out of my ears).

Sympathy to all the TN sufferers out there.

Hi, very quick reply as on work lunch break. Thank you very much for all the replies I’ve quickly read them all and will read them properly again after work. I actually have TMD already, I’ve been to the hospital 4 times for referrals in the last 10 years and they said they can’t do anything it’s just the way my jaw is. It’s not usually painful and I don’t have it badly, my only symptom is my jaw clicks and cracks when I open it. It definitely could be a bad TMD attack but it was pain that was a different level from anything I have ever had before, it was like being smashed in the face or like someone had smashed my teeth. My upper left teeth have been a bit achey as the morning has gone on, not particularly painful but just a very dull feeling, there’s a particular bit between 2 teeth that doesn’t feel sore but feels strange when I touch it. I will reply properly tonight after work and sorry so many people have TN it sounds absolutely awful

See your dentist first but also book an appointment with your gp. Arthritis in the mandibular joint,clenching and grinding teeth can produce this type of pain. Any pain caused by infection would likely be continuous and worsening not intermittent, possibly, but not always, accompanied by a temperature. Something as simple as concentrating on a task can cause you to clench your teeth.It would be worthwhile asking your partner if you grind your teeth in your sleep. All of these things can be made worse by lack of sleep, illness, stress and alcohol. You can get advice for this and trigeminal neuralgia on ent.co.uk or from your dentist. In the first instance, see the relevant professionals to be sure there's nothing that needs immediate treatment.

@Saddlesore

Sinusitis?

I get dreadful toothache when my siniuses are playing up and I also feel that I must have a huge black-eye with the pain in my eye socket.

I had this in summer, caused pain behind my eye too, was awful. Turns out I had a cavity close to my nerve and a filling sorted it. Was in awful pain.

I've just seen your post saying you've already been diagnosed with tmd so apologise for the previous long winded reply. If you've already got the condition it could be that the nerves in the area have become over sensitive, but it would definitely be worthwhile seeing the dentist to be sure there's nothing else going on. It does sound similar to pain that I get and I've been told it's down to the teeth grinding/ clenching affecting specific teeth where the pressure is greatest. You can also get referred pain from elsewhere in that area, ie tonsillitis can cause ear pain and so on.

I’ve managed to read all replies properly now so thanks for all the advice. I read up a bit online and bloody hell TN sounds horrific, really sorry for anyone going through that It’s started hurting again throughout today, it’s not excruciating like it was during the night, but feels like a dull ache from my upper left teeth/upper left jaw. I can eat on it but not comfortably and i noticed that cold was hurting my teeth more. I’ll call the dentist tomorrow and try and get an urgent appointment if it gets worse again during the night x

Sounds like you have an infection/Abcess tbat has drained likely from the hot compress. I've had some absolute life changing teeth infections ones kept me awake for 3 days drooling and screaming went to the dentist and due to the infection the numbing didn't even work I had to go back 3 days later after strong antibiotics. I have coeliac disease which has now explained my dental issues being that I don't absorb calcium and I have no enamel on my teeth, I'm lucky if fillings last few months before cracking due to the porousity of them.
Get to the doctor and the dentist get stronger pain relief Oxycodone is the only thing that will touch the pain, however it is a slippery slope to use due to addiction (trust me) get some sensory tooth paste to rub on the teeth whenever you get pain, get numbing gel, clove oil, COLD compress heat can force the infection deeper into your body and blood poisoning can form, panadol and ibroufen TOGETHER as well as strong stuff, an antiseptic mouth wash or salt water. A dentist or doctor will be able to see if it is an infection. If you've drained it and you have no pain likely hood of it filling up again is high you need to get on antibiotics because that pain is going to come back. If it's not any if the above then look into the alternative diagnosises but it's likely a tooth infection

@Soreface

I’ve managed to read all replies properly now so thanks for all the advice. I read up a bit online and bloody hell TN sounds horrific, really sorry for anyone going through that It’s started hurting again throughout today, it’s not excruciating like it was during the night, but feels like a dull ache from my upper left teeth/upper left jaw. I can eat on it but not comfortably and i noticed that cold was hurting my teeth more. I’ll call the dentist tomorrow and try and get an urgent appointment if it gets worse again during the night x

Hmmm well yes, those are classic neuralgia symptoms for me - constant low-level aching, made worse by cold, with occasional excruciating episodes.

But it could also be an abscess, or something else more easily solvable.... hopefully!

Definitely see doctor and dentist if possible. It could be tooth related, jaw related, sinus related... There's a lot going on in that area and it can be hard to differentiate which it is.

Abscesses don't always come with pain beyond the discomfort of the initial swelling

I just recovered from one that didn't hurt, except for is you slept on it

Often tooth pain gets better when you're upright because lying down increases blood pressure in your head

I've had this with trigeminal neuralgia, also what felt like pain in my molars on side and was actually a sinus infection.

Hey I forgot to post an update.

Tooth is still really painful, not as bad as during the night on Monday-Tuesday but just like a constant dull ache pressure type feeling. When I had the excruciating episode on mon night it was the whole area of my face that hurt, all the way from my jaw up to my ear but now it’s an individual tooth that’s sore. It hurts to touch the tooth and apart from that it’s like a dull ache going across my top jaw (it’s an upper tooth) and occasionally it feels achey in my bottom jaw too.

I’ve got a great dentist and they managed to fit me in to be seen- unfortunately it’s an infection/abscess so going to need antibiotics and root canal treatment. The nerve has died in the tooth so I think that’s how it got infected. I was upset but glad to have a treatable answer for why it was so sore.

Thanks so much everyone for the advice and help, I was desperate for answers about what it could be so posted in a bit of a panic on Tuesday!

I had this exact pain a couple of months ago. My tooth was broken (unbeknownst to me) and I needed a root canal. My whole face and jaw felt like it was going to explode and I couldn’t point to the exact tooth causing the issue, I actually thought it was a tooth a couple away from the one with the issue.

@Hemingwayzcatz

I had this exact pain a couple of months ago. My tooth was broken (unbeknownst to me) and I needed a root canal. My whole face and jaw felt like it was going to explode and I couldn’t point to the exact tooth causing the issue, I actually thought it was a tooth a couple away from the one with the issue.

It’s horrible isn’t it! Did you get it sorted ok with the root canal treatment?

Currently trying to sleep with a hot water bottle against my face, it feels like I’ve been punched in the jaw it’s so sore! Can’t wait until the antibiotics kick in and it gets better.

Posting an update in case anyone is still around.

It’s still throbbing and is really sore- not the same ‘acute’ pain as during the night last week, but it’s like a constant dull throbbing pain from the area around that tooth. Weirdly it doesn’t particularly hurt to use the tooth for eating, it’s just a horrible painful, heavy feeling from that part of my cheek and jaw. I’m not sure if this is completely unrelated but that side of my nose is completely blocked now too- it’s not dripping or runny like with a cold, it’s just like a blocked feeling which goes and comes back again almost straight away. Might not even be related to it but it’s right beside my tooth/cheek area that hurts so wasn’t sure. Cant wait for the antibiotics to get rid of this infection and stop the pain is there a painkiller that works best for toothache in particular?