I am glad to see this post, I am a survivor since may of 2005 and starting to have some jaw pain and was wondering if this is common. Used to take tylenol for it but now its too the point of not helping much. Once in awhile I get some very bad neck cramps and muscles are sore after wards from the cramps and was getting scarred it was coming back again.

The jaw pain is at the bottom of the jaw towards the back. The muscle spasm I am having is on the same side but radiates from my shoulder to the base of the skull behind the right ear. This is the same side that I had 2 lymphnodes removed. Seem to be having a hard time relating the annoyance of this to the doc but would just like to have something for the discomfort. I hate complaining because I have it great compared to alot of ppl who had the same thing.

I can associate with your pain. I just quit taking all of my pain meds just to see what I can put up with. I have percs and another 1 or 2 that are just sitting in their bottles. I hope you get what you need from your Dr. I am just old and still trying to be tough. LOL Good luck.

Hi Bob, you and I have about the same time since we finished our treatment (my rad/chemo ended early June 2005). I have bad jaw cramps just about very day although they don't last long (maye a minute or two at the longest). I don't know if this is similar to what you say is "jaw pain". It's more like a muscle cramp in the jaw than chronic pain.

The pain doesn't sound quite like yours but similar. It usually starts on one side of my jaw and the muscle that cramps is kind of in the lower corner--the cramp is so intense that if I didn't pull against it it would have me grinding my teeth together. Even when I do pull against it (by trying to force my jaw open) I can barely open it.

These cramps have definitely gotten worse in the last year or so. Fibrosis from radiation can keep happening for years after radiaiton from what I have read so it's frustrating but maybe not as unusual as it seems like it would be.

I also get cramps in my shoulder. It is on the opposite side of my neck from where I had a neck dissectionand a very good physical therapist I went to a few years ago told me that is to be expected because they did remove some muscle in the neck dissection. I only get these cramps when I do not stretch my neck enough. I have a set of exercises from the physical therapist I should do every day but when I get busy I don't. I have one of those neck wraps wih rice insode that you put in the micorwave to warm and I find it helps GREATLY when my neck gets stiff or crampy.

I hope this helps.

Nelie

Thanks for all the replys. It is almost a month now and I am tolerating the pain a little better. Believe it or not my husbands Chiroprator said he could help so a little fearful to have anyone touch my jaw I agreed. He put pressure with his thumb on the outside of my jaw muscle and then on the inside of my mouth on the jaw muscle and yes it was painful to a point but I think it was also a little fear. But I felt my jaw release and I was able to open my mouth at least another 1/2 inch or more. I was shocked. He said that I was tensing up my jaw so much that the muscle was not able to release. That was a few weeks ago and I still feel better. So that helped with some of the jaw pain issues. So now I just keep exercising my jaw by opening and closing my mouth to help keep that muscle moving. What a crazy journey. Hopes this might help someone else.