Chin and Neck Pain 2 Days after Bottom Braces

[Carrie]

Here's another one of my complaints, yes, it's been a rough weekend for me since I had the bottom ones put in.

I'm currently having pain in my chin down both sides of my neck almost to my shoulders. My glands are swollen. Could that possibly indicate an allergy to latex? I felt (and I'm sure most of you guys felt the same) that the ortho and his asstistant almost jumped into my mouth hands first.

I've been using a rinse for sore spots in your mouth made by orajel I believe and I'm also using a paste they make to put directly on the painful areas where the braces are rubbing.

I don't remember having this much discomfort with my ceramic top brackets, I had some discomfort but I barely touched the wax. Now I'm going through it like crazy. I wonder if it's just better to just suck up the pain and barely use the wax to let the thick scar tissue build in my mouth. Right now I feel like I have tried to glue barbwired fencing to my bottom teeth.

Any ideas on Toughing it out for the pain to go away faster instead of using wax?

What might be causing the pain my chin and neck?

Thanks,
Carrie

[Sunny]

Carrie the swelling may be due to many things, including an illness, allergy, jaw problems, a reaction to pain etc etc etc. I recommend doing warm salt water rinses every hour and relaxing your jaw as much as you can. Stress and tension are often the reason why jaw joints are even more painful.

Don't drop the wax, in fact the more the better. With wax your mouth will toughen without sores ... without wax you'll get sores, then the new cells have to start all over again and if these are irritated regularly, you risk heaps of pain, infection etc. Wax was invented for a great reason and has been around for so long for that same great reason! You'll be surprised that one day you'll notice you don't need so much any more ... then wear the wax for another 24 hours, just to be certain ... and that might be it.

The lower arch is quite different to the upper arch for most people. Firstly the lower lip 'hugs' the lower teeth, making it harder not to your brackets 'digging' in a bit in the early days. Extra hydration and loads of wax will help.

The pain in your chin and neck may be due to many things. These include pressure on your lower jaw while you were getting your brackets applied. It may be the result of you feeling stressed or tension due to something totally unrelated to anything ortho. It may be due to some medical condition like a cold or flu. Here's hoping it vanishes quickly and you never have it again. If it should get worse, give your ortho a call and ask for advice.

It will get better ... honest it will! You have a great attitude, now just keen your jaw as rested as you can and talk to your ortho at your next appointment about the swelling ... if nothing else developes from it.

Good luck!

[Denise]

When I was diagnosed with tendinitis back in November, my physical therapist saw me a few times and when he found out I had braces (apparently he didn't notice the first few times), he was explaining to me how they can cause a number of issues with muscles in the jaw, neck, and even shoulders and back. Since the muscles are a myriad of connections, pain or tension in one could cause a chain reaction. So it doesn't surprise me you're having this issue.

One thing I would seriously recommend is that you start taking ibuprofen. Motrin IB works the best for me, personally. Take 600mg every 4-5 hours WITH FOOD. This will help relieve the tension and pain in your muscles and will greatly reduce your discomfort. And like Sunny said, don't stop using Wax. You have to give your mouth a chance to heal.

I had a lot of pain in the first few months with my braces, then it waned to only having pain a few days after each adjustment. Now that I'm not getting new wires anymore, my pain is pretty spotty. When people say braces should be relatively pain free, remember that doesn't apply to everyone. My ortho has told me that I'm experiencing higher than average pain as a result of my braces, and I'm not the only one to do so. It's possible you are like me.

So, lots of wax. Ibuprofen. Salt water rinse. That's about all you can do for now, but those will definitely help!! Good luck!!

[paulmerc]

So, I'm having some similar problems. I'm usually over in the Invisalign forum, but I'm starting to think it MAY not be the invisalign (possibly issue with alergy or material, etc.) but could be an issue with just the pressure. Even minute as it is after a week or so with a new aligner.

But DAILY, I have this pain down the sides of my neck. I have a BIT of jaw pain at the joint, but it isn't really too problematic, but the NECK pain is painful and feels like I need a chiropractic adjustment. But that doesn't seem to help too much.

A couple nights ago, I took the braces out overnight (bad, bad patient!!) and you know what, at night and in the AM I had NO PAIN at all. Putting them back in this yesterday, etc., and now the pain is back. So, SOMETHING must be up. Is this what they call TMJ? Or could it be just radial effects of the pressure?