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I Keep Cracking My Jaw And I Can't Stop...

SamIchi

SamIchi

macrumors 68030
Original poster
So like a month ago, I was moving my jaw around and I heard this huge crack. I didn't think much of it, it didn't hurt, and felt kinda of good like cracking my knuckles. After a few days I did it again, and eventually I figured out which way to move my jaw to crack. So now I do it more often like cracking my knuckles. Is this ok?

I can do it to both sides of my jaw. After it's cracked I can't do it for a while, and I can hear fluid movin' around cause it's right next to the ear. The other day I tried cracking it too many times in a day and it got really sore so I stopped. I'm always moving my jaw now, I can't stop. 😱 What should I do? Can anyone else do this?
 
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From your post I am going to assume that cracking of your jaw is just a bad habit and not a true medical condition. Although, I would still strongly advise that you take care of your jaw and this probably means limiting your cracking. 🙁 The dead give away was the pain as this is a sign that your jaw does not like what you are doing.

However, if the cracking is a recent symptom, or your pain gets worse, you may want to get a doctor or dentist to take a look. You may be grinding or clenching your teeth at night. This can happen as a result of stress and by doing so it irritates your jaw making it crack. The pain can get much worse if left untreated. My wife suffers from Temporomandibular joint diseases or TMJ and her jaw now cracks pretty much all the time.

Please take care of yourself. 😱
 
I can do it too. Try to stop doing it; my jaws got sore after I did it a lot...

...and the pain didn't subside for at least a week. 😱
 
I would recommend you stop cracking your jaw!!!

A friend of mine did it so much his face collapsed.

He sold everything.

He is beaten by strangers every time he leaves his house.

Rich.
 
fatsoforgotso said:
I would recommend you stop cracking your jaw!!!

A friend of mine did it so much his face collapsed.

He sold everything.

He is beaten by strangers every time he leaves his house.

Rich.
Click to expand...

I knew of someone who was trying to click their jaw but yawned instead and tore a muscle in their tongue. The tongue became so swollen that the guy passed out and had to be resuscitated. By the time the paramedic arrived, yobs and thugs had taken his laptop bag and one of his shoes. I think he's OK now and currently passes his time (free and otherwise) posting on apple tech/rumour forums while he waits for his new MBP to be shipped.
 
How weird. I just did this five minutes ago -- not for the first time -- and was marveling at what a peculiarly pleasant sensation it is.

I can't remember when it was that I discovered I could do this, but wow, once I'd started...

What's odd is that I can never predict when I can do it or not, and it's only on my right side, directly under my ear canal, just like you said. Sometimes weeks go by and I wiggle my jaw constantly and nothing happens. And sometimes it's only a few hours in between. But what a sense of relief I have when it's done! It's like I've alleviated loads of pressure and tightness and everything feels relaxed again.
 
i suffer from this also

i suffer from this unwated sh*t i have been doing it for about a year now and cant stop it sometimes locks and then i have to kinda puch it 2 get it back in place which sometimes causes me pain but i like releasing the tension building up i know its the worst habbit ever 😱 but i know i have no way of stopping it .....
 
Go to a dentist. S/he may prescribe a muscle relaxtant and/or a night guard to wear when you're sleeping. That's why I got.
 
I do it every day. I do it by pushing my hand against my jaw and opening it down and to the side where my hand is. It feels great when I do it, and have been doing it for more than half my life!

I've talked to two or three doctors about it, and they all recognize why it happens, although I forget what it's actually called. A pediatric cardiologist I saw even had the same condition.
 
Right!

I had this a couple of years ago. Lasted about 6-9 months or so. It was always worse when I tilted my head back, sometimes I couldn't open my jaw at all and since I was really into stunt kiting at that time... Yea. 🙁
Don't know what happened but it went away completely. I can't even make it happen on purpose.
 
My ankles click every time I walk and take a step. Sometimes it doesn't happen, but when it does happen, it sounds like I'm walking in tapdancing shoes.
 
I used to crack my jaw at least 10 times a day. I was able to because at age 14 my entire lower jaw was moved forward about 3 -4 cm by my dentist.

Luckily it was by a special retainer instead of their original plan to break my jaw and wire it into place.
 
Ask your friends to help you with some negative reinforcement.

Have them taser you in the nuts every time you crack your jaw, I'm sure you'll stock doing it in a day.
 
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I would recommend against continuing to do it. It may lead to problems similar to TMJ or something.

I regularly crack my knuckles, but I used to routinely crack each finger twice - the base and the middle knuckles. Whether or not it's good, bad or indifferent in the long run medically, I'm trying to quit. It kind of irritates me that I've got addicted, in a sense, to doing it.

I used to crack my shoulder joint, by twisting my arm slightly a certain way, but then habitually got to doing it several times a day and it started to hurt.

I don't think cracking a finger once in a while is so bad, but doing anything like that habitually has got to have some negative side effect I'd imagine...
 
Sun Baked said:
Ask your friends to help you with some negative reinforcement.

Have them taser you in the nuts every time you crack your jaw, I'm sure you'll stock doing it in a day.
Click to expand...

dont be with my friends half the time and wouldnt wanted to get *nut cracked* ..
 
yea, I can too, I would do it a couple times a day a few years back. But i have this same problem in my neck, ive had it for the past 7 years and I just cannot stop. Ive been to doctors, hospitals, gotten x-rays and MRI's and been in physical therapy. I crack it maybe 50-100 times a day, it hurts when I dont and when I do, it feels good for about halve a second, and goes back to hurting, which is why I cant stop.
Also, cracking joints also helped me! last summer I would constantly pop my elbow by making a inward "L" and quickly moving it into a "I." The day I went to the hospital for my neck, the doctor saw that I was popping my elbow and wanted to get a look at it so I got about a dozen x-rays, and couldnt see anything, so i had to get a MRI and it showed a severe bone contusion. The time from when I fell on it until I was done with physical therapy was about 7-8 months, thanks popping elbow!
 
flex99923 said:
dont be with my friends half the time and wouldnt wanted to get *nut cracked* ..
Click to expand...
With a crack like that you ought to. 😛

I was doing it on a certain rollercoaster (Raptor) at Cedar Point, and it locked and the ending run of the ride popped it. So I have overbite, and my bottom jaw is pointed right a bit.
 
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