Jaw pain

[Alimagrog]

Newbie here -
Just received my CPAP a week ago, and so far I'm adjusting well. I'm used to wearing the mask and I'm use to the pressure, and my daily AHI is good. However, the last three days I've had intense pain and discomfort in my right jaw joint (and only the right). I have a nasal mask so I'm sleeping with my mouth closed, but I don't think I'm clenching my teeth because the only pain I have is in my right jaw joint. I am typing this as I lay in bed with my mask on, and I keep finding my jaw relaxing and my teeth separating, so I'm wondering if this is putting stress on my jaw joint since I sleep on my side. But I'm not sure what's going on. Has anyone had this happen? Any advice? The pain is getting bad, and OTC painkillers aren't helping.

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum.
When you have time please add your equipment to your profile like I have mine.
wiki/index.php/Registering_Equipment_in_User_Profile

What brand/model nasal mask are you using?
No...it's not normal to have intense jaw pain...something wrong somewhere but we need to know which mask to start with.
Maybe it has a strap that is too tight and putting stress on the jaw.

[Julie]

Jaw pain can be a common sign of serious cardiac problems, coincident or not with Cpap use... please go to the ER and get checked out. I'm not being dramatic, but cautious.

[Alimagrog]

I updated my profile. The headgear doesn't sit on my jaw, it's more by my cheek bones, and it snug enough to keep the seal.

The pain is all focused on only my jaw joint on the right side. There is not any radiating pain, or pain in any other part of my jaw. It's all in the jaw joint on the right side.

[Pugsy]

Probably some extra pressure on that TMJ joint on the right especially when on the right side.

You could maybe add some padding to that area and see if it helps or not...or find a different mask that doesn't touch the TMJ area.

[Alimagrog]

The headgear doesn't sit on my jaw joint though.

[Pugsy]

Yeah, it may not sit directly on it but it's putting tension or pressure on that joint some how.

Now it may not be related to the mask at all and you just happened to have a TMJ flare up when starting cpap but it's awfully coincidental that it flares up now don't you think?
So if this is entirely new pain to you...my first suspect would be something related to the mask.

And I have a history of TMJ pain and I am here to tell you that sometimes it takes very little change in something to set it off.

You might want to see your doctor or dentist.

[Midwest_non_sleeper]

And I have a history of TMJ pain and I am here to tell you that sometimes it takes very little change in something to set it off.

You might want to see your doctor or dentist.

I can confirm that this is absolutely true. I have been a tooth grinder for most of my life while sleeping, which has resulted in terrible TMJ. Sometimes it just takes me to chew food wrong and suddenly the apocalypse is happening on the right side of my jaw. There is very little that can be done for my specific case other than a guard (which I often grind right through) or to lessen the insane amount of stress at work.

[Alimagrog]

Tried a mouth guard last night and it didn’t help. My jaw joint was just as painful, so I was able to get in to see my dentist this morning. Based on X-rays I had a couple of weeks ago, I have a slight misalignment to the right, so my right joint is more worn down. He doesn’t think it’s related to the CPAP as much as it could be related to me sleeping with my mouth closed. So it’s TMD. (He said the acronym TMJ refers to the joint while TMD refers to the disorder of the joint.)

So, course of treatment is muscle relaxers, OTC painkillers, and he said I could try a chin strap because it might help my muscles relax more at night while keeping my mouth closed.

How do chin straps work? Are they mask specific?

[Pugsy]

How do chin straps work? Are they mask specific?

Chin straps are supposed to be gentle reminders to keep the mouth closed.
They are NOT meant to be vise grip tight.

No...not mask/brand/or specific to anything in particular.