The bones next to my ears make noises when I eat

Sometimes in life, some unexpected phenomena will catch us off guard, and we don’t know what is going on or what caused it. For example, when eating, we suddenly hear a sound in the bones next to our ears. When this happens, in general, the sound is caused by a disorder of the mandibular joint. If there are no other symptoms when the noise occurs, then there is no need to worry.

Diagnosis of Mandibular Joint Disorders

Internal derangement can be diagnosed by observing the mandible when the mouth is opened. A snap or pop may be heard or felt as the condylar head jumps back onto the disc, with a mouth opening >10mm. The condyle remains in place when the mouth is opened further. Often another snap is heard when the mouth is closed as the condyle slides over the posterior edge of the disc and the disc is pulled forward.

Irreducible internal joint derangement is diagnosed by asking the patient to open his mouth as wide as possible; the physician then applies gentle pressure to open the mouth if the patient still cannot open it wide.

treat

If the patient can open his mouth wide without discomfort (about 40 mm, or 3 finger widths of the index, middle, and ring fingers), no treatment is needed. If pain occurs, mild analgesics are given, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen 400 mg, once every 6 hours). If the disease has lasted for more than 6 months, an anterior repositioning splint is used to position the mandible forward and within the articular disc. This splint is a horseshoe-shaped splint made of a hard transparent resin.