I'm a 33 year old female with no medical problems (past or present). The only medication I take is birth control pills.
For many years I have had recurring
pain in my jaw/under-ear area. It used to be painful when I would start to eat (but not all of the time -- not sure why it would be inconsistent?) but in the past few years it's not only more painful when these "episodes" occur but it seems to subside much more slowly. When it's acting up it also hurts to press on that area and when I turn my head I can feel it -- like it might be swollen. I find that I even have started to compensate for it, like not leaning over the sink too far when I brush my teeth because that makes my ear/jaw/lower-cheek hurt. Sometimes it's one side or the other, rarely both at one time.
I keep looking around on the internet to figure out what it is and the closest thing that matches my symptoms is salivary gland stones. I am no doctor thought and could be totally off base.
If indeed that's what it is, do I have to get them treated? Do you think it is something else? I can handle the painful part of it and unless I am leading up to a big problem I'd rather not have to have some scary medical procedure done to fix it. But I don't want to end up with something worse down the line!
Any advice will be appreciated.
