Anxiety........ I have a tightness around my jaw an throat is this normal?

You aren't alone!

Hi I'm here!!! Same symptoms however the jaw tightness and shooting pains are my newest phenomenon. Started 4 months ago with major stomach issues and chest pain (under left breast). Had CT, X-ray, EKG, endoscopy. It all has come down to tension and trigger points in my muscles. Darn stress! I've had my first ever panic attack as well. My anxiety is so heightened and can't even watch someone fight in a movie without going into an attack!!! I see a PT now whom puts needles in those trigger points to help release the tension. It has been a long road but I want to note this all started after dental work with three deep injections. I couldn't talk for 8 hrs afterwards. Hmmm......maybe we have nerve damage???

I was experiencing a stressful time last summer and had dental work done because I chipped a tooth from grinding my teeth at night. I also had a cavity filled on my lower back moler and my tongue and jaw have never been the same. I experience tightness after I eat and when I have anxiety now. After the dental work I would feel like my chest hurt and I couldnt breath. Went to two different doctors and the ER. And everything looked fine. I went to a oral surgent a few months ago and he said it could have been nerve damage or an infection. I do feel relief when I chew gum. I have had an anxiety disorder most of my life and these symptoms were new so it was alarming.

Have you been check for any type of infections from the dental work?

Tamara, how are you feeling now? I too am an anxiety sufferer and have had the same thing happening for almost 2 weeks with my jaw muscles/face getting tired and being tight especially when I eat, which has made me not even want to eat lately, not to mention it then makes me focus on the jaw. I've also had tight throat/neck and this feeling in the back of my throat when I swallow. I have been to several doctors including a neuro and had several tests done and all say I'm fine and that it's all in my head. It's just hard to believe sometimes that such real physical symptoms could be caused by anxiety and then I start thinking maybe the docs missed something because how long could physical symptoms originally created by anxiety possibly last? Even when I feel like I've calmed down a bit, the feelings are still there. My mind then tends to always go to the negative and think that the worst must be wrong with me. I recently started anxiety med and cbt so hopefully that helps because these feelings are the worst!

Health aniexty is one of the most difficult things to live with. I have has aniexty my entire life. In the past 10 years it has become about my health (along with constant worry about my loved ones also) I have always just dealt with it but this past 6 months it's gotten 100% worse and I finally have insurance so I'm going to the doc. I have had ekg, chest X-ray, and boood work done. So far all seems to be ok. I want to believe that but to be honest I just don't. I feel like they have missed something or are just ordering the wrong kinds of tests. I feel like when I went I should never have told them I suffer with aniexty becuase now I feel I'm not taken as serious. My symptoms range from chest tightness, shape pains in chest and face, shoulder pain, jaw pain (lower left side), headaches, digestive issues, heart palpitations and the absolute worse is shortness of breath! It's what made me finally go to the doctors. The worse feeling ever and not just when I'm having a panic attack. It's all the time even when I'm calm and relaxing. It's been rough and I often think the same as you. How in the heck could these physical symptoms that come out of the blue and come and go all day everyday be from aniexty? I'm beginning to think I may need meds. I want to be able to enjoy life again and relax and just be free

For about 4 weeks now I have been having on and off tightness in my jaw and right side of my neck. This has led to me becoming a hypochondriac and Googling every possible symptom. Now thanks to this, my anxiety is at the worst it has been. I have been suffering with anxiety for over 20 years and had to restart taking paxil after I promise myself i would never take it again. Although this medication has worked wonders for me, I just wanted to have a normal life without meds. Anyhow, I think the my jaw issue is TMJ. Additionally, I have what I belief is a misaligned atlas c1 veetabre due to having horrible posture for many years. I have read that tmj and an atlas misalignment can lead to anxiety. I hope that it has stiffness goes away soon because it is driving me nuts.

I have the same for so long. Went from bodybuilding and fit to having all these weird symptoms and cramp in neck Jae face, feeling like my breathing is suppressed and I will die. Only recently, I started breathing for my palate instead of from my nose (with mouth closed). You have to really relax to do it. First you will find you sound a little bit like darth vader when you do it. But the more you do it, the more your body adapts this breathing and will do it automatically. For me it gradually improved and solved my symptoms, also solved my chronically dry nose and throat. What's more, the reason you stopped breathing like this is probably cause you where anxious or just so so busy at work at some point, that you unconsciously switched to undeep breathing. And then you sticked to this (undeep) breathing technique because it goes well for when your body is busy and doing things but when you're relaxed this way of breathing is too fast and makes you uncomfortable! So the next step is to also 'breath the darth vader way', from your palate, when you are busy or exercising. And trust me, you can really built up aerobic condition like this while you can't do this with the undeep breathing. Best of luck everyone! I hope this helps at least one desperate person. I've been there man, it destroyed me from 20-23yrs old (prime time) because I just couldn't accept it was breathing, I read all these scientific articles on scholar to pin it down to something worse. I was so sure something underlying caused it! And maybe there was. But it doesn't matter anymore. The darth vader breathing helped me get my life back.

Hi nikki, i hv that too. It's all happened after i finished my thesis. I've been so stressed out and starting losing my weight. Currently my neck feels so tight i'm freaking out, but i still can eat and drink, no weird things happened. My right side jaw feels like someone stabbed a pin on it. And my upper back hurts too. I looked at my neck, no weird visible lump. I noticed that the feelings are come and goes. When i'm not focused on it, it disappeared. It gets annoying when i suddenly remember it, the feelings suddenly kicks back! Warm bath usually helps

Buspar is a med I just upped...very good at staying relaxed..also Camomile Tea several times a day...I've had Anxiety for over 30 years and Life does get better??

Hey Japz,

My symptoms sound quite similar to yours, with neck, back and jaw muscle tension. Every time someone says to me to breath through the nose, out through the mouth  it makes me worse! It's almost like I've forgotten how to breathe properly.... would be interested in any material or videos that you have that could help? 

Many thanks 

Graeme 

Yes, me also.  The more you concentrate on it the worse it gets.  You have a vagus nerve in the throat which controls you emotions and will hurt when stressed.

Have a go at calming it - this one I use and it works.  Put your thumb up and blow on it like a trumpet (not skin to skin just blow).  It stimulates the nerve and sends a message to your heart to calm it down and slow it down if it is racing (usually is with anxiety) think of childbirth and we pant to ease pain.

Another one is using the thumb, as in accupressure.  The thumb represents worry and anxiety - hold onto one thumb with your other hand quite securely and keep holding.  I have panic attacks especially if stuck in a traffic jam and when I am passenger and we get stuck, I now hold my thumb and it is weird the panic does not come on and also my shoulders (without me realising) drop instead of stuck up almost at my ears. 

Simple and effective - have a go.