Why does it hurt when I open my mouth?

If you open your mouth wide and feel pain near your ears, it may be caused by temporomandibular arthritis, a pain phenomenon caused by joint disorder or structural damage. In daily life, avoid opening your mouth too wide to avoid joint sprains. For example, try not to laugh too loudly and be careful when yawning. In this case, you should receive appropriate treatment in time. If conservative treatment is not effective, surgery can be performed.

Causes

1. Mental factors Mental factors play a very important role in the occurrence and aggravation of temporomandibular joint disorder syndrome. 2. Traumatic factors Many patients have a history of local trauma. Such as acute traumas such as external impact, sudden biting of hard objects, opening the mouth too wide (such as yawning); also frequent chewing of hard food, nighttime grinding of teeth, and unilateral chewing habits. These factors may cause joint contusion or strain and dysfunction of the chewing muscles.

Clinical manifestations

The main clinical manifestations of temporomandibular joint disorder syndrome include local joint soreness or pain, joint clicking and mandibular movement disorders. The pain may be located in the joint area or around the joints; it may be accompanied by tenderness of varying degrees. Joint soreness or pain is especially noticeable when chewing or opening the mouth.

The snapping sound occurs when the mouth is opened. The sound can occur at different stages of mandibular movement and can be a crisp single sound or a series of fragmented sounds. Common movement obstacles include limited mouth opening, mandibular deviation when opening the mouth, and limited left and right mandibular movement. In addition, it may be accompanied by symptoms such as temporal pain, dizziness, and tinnitus.