My husband is 6 years out of treatment for cancer of the vocal cord and doing great. Had radiation and chemo with almost no issues. In the past he has had episodes with his jaw popping and locking but recently it has turned into an everyday occurrence. Can see the ENT in a month but is there anyone who has experienced these issues and who did you see and what if any are the treatments?

Welcome to OCF, Terrb! Im sorry to read of your husbands jaw problems after being 6 years post rads. As you probably already know, radiation can cause quite a significant amount of damage not just to the tumor but also to surrounding areas. Patients who undergo radiation treatments for oral cancer (OC) can have major issues with swallowing, sense of taste, fatigue, trismus, etc.

An ENT primarily sees patients for ear, nose and throat problems, sometimes an ENT will specialize in putting tubes in kids ears. Most doctors will attempt to help their patients. At times a doctor who has been treating someone for a length of time may try helping even when the issue is out of their normal specialty. For your husbands issues, I would suggest finding an oral surgeon who treats oral cancer patients. You do not want to take him to an oral surgeon who specializes in removing wisdom teeth. Many oral surgeons will treat patients who have TMJ. Make sure whoever you decide to take your husband to see they are very experienced with late stage after effects for OC patients who had rads.

After going thru rads, OC patients/survivors usually have compromised healing capabilities from radiation damage. Its usually right around where the tumor was located. This is called scatter radiation damage. Im sorry but I do not know what sort of treatment would be available for your husband. Since the affected area is where your husband picked up scatter radiation, he may not have very many options to correct his jaw problems. Having surgery in the scatter radiation zone may not be something he would be a candidate for. Ive included a link to our main OCF site so you can read about radiation treatments, long term late stage side effects, etc.

Best wishes to your husband!!!

Main OCF Site... Understanding OC

Is it kind of popping out of joint, then slipping back in?

If so, my jaw's been doing that since I was sixteen, every time I yawn (that gets tiresome!) and so far no one has been able to figure out why, but also no one has ever been particularly alarmed about it. It may just be a new 'thing' to deal with. Still does it, even after cancer treatments. Just started out of the blue when I was a teen. My doc back then showed me how to reset it if it didn't go back by itself (because the first time, it locked into place for a few hours), and that was that.

Not that it's necessarily the same as what your husband is going through, but wanted to share a story to let you know that it might not actually be a scary thing going on ... just an annoying one. Might be a TMJ thing, too, and that, they can help with a little.

I hope you find a good and simple answer!

Thanks for the response. Called our ENT and going to see the dentist who has been seeing my husband since treatment. They said it could be TMJ.

Hi Terri,
Just want to say Hello. This does sound like TMJ and hope the Dentist can help Jeff.
Hope retirement is going well for you both.
Tammy and Kris.