What can I do - arthritis in my jaw joint

My jaw started to pop and hurt really bad when I move it since last year. Sometimes I can’t even open my mouth or eat. I had researched about it and thought it was what 88livinfree12 said, but anyway I went to my trusted pharmacist and told him about it.

He explained to me that the joints in your jaw has its own lubrication to keep the joints moving smoothly and pain-free, like every other joint in your body. If the lubrication gets depleted, your jaw joints grinds against its sockets, which will cause pain. I thought it would make sense because I used to chew gum all the time since college, and also liked to chew on whole almonds because they were a healthy snack. So I guess I slowly used up my jaw joints’ natural lubrication faster than it could replenish itself.

He told me to not move my jaw too much if I could (before being told this, I would always try to stretch or force my mouth to open wider when it can’t, because I thought it would help - I did more damage that way!), and take Glucosamine supplements for a month or so as it helps hasten the production of the joint lubrication.

Well I took the advice about only moving my jaw when I need to, but I didn’t take the Glucosamine due to a lot o stuff going on in my life and I was moving to another country and stuff. I did take Evening Primrose Oil and Cod Liver Oil supplements though, and it has helped too. I rarely get my jaw problems anymore, unless I’ve had some hard steak or something that requires a lot of chewing and crunching at dinner the night before.

But yeah, your jaw problem could be anything, and it’s best to get a medical professional to look at it to see the problem first hand.