Well, I've been whining all week about pain in my jaw, under my tongue. My so-called friends have suggested that it's everything from a canker sore to syphilis. I am pretty sure you can't get either of those from watching television, and my social life doesn't go any further than that… still I decided to go have the intense pain checked out.
Guess what, I have a Salivary Stone. Yippee! Pain all around!
Here's the official write up from the OHSU clinic:
"Your exam shows you have a stone in one of your saliva glands. These small stones form around a mucous plug in the ducts of the glands and cause the saliva in the gland to be blocked off. This makes the gland swollen and painful, especially when you eat. If repeated episodes occur, the gland can become infected. Sometimes these stones can be seen on x-ray.
"Treatment includes stimulating the production of saliva to push the stone out. You should suck on a lemon several times daily to accomplish this. Antibiotic medicine may be needed if the gland is infected. Surgical treatment to remove the stone is sometimes necessary, so proper medical follow up is very important. Call your doctor for an appointment as recommended."
Nice. So in layman terms, paraphrased by yours truly: The pain is going to get much worse before it gets better as those saliva glands work to shoot the stone out. It's kind of like getting the last strawberry in the milkshake to actually come through the straw, only in reverse, and with much pain. Ouch. ow ow.
4 Comments
Its still no excuse to miss a birthday party….Poor Jules, no cuddling with Godzilla tonight….talk about pain.
Ewww! Ewww! Is this part of getting old? Kidney stones… gall stones… and now a..uh, saliva stone? eww!
I too have a stone that has shown up on a CT Scan. I am supposed to speak w/the ENT today about the size & location of it. I'm doing all I can to avoid any surgery at all cost. Email me if you want to chat more. I've found TONS of info online & have read it all! Good luck! (damn, just noticed this post was from Jan '05 not '06?! I'll look for follow-up posts! Would love to hear how it worked out for you!
Hah. I just got diagnosed with one also. Recommendation? Removal of the salivary gland. I've had the stone for about two years and it hasn't came out on its own.. Well, the frontal stone that I was aware of. Who knows how long the one in the back has or has not been there.
I'm looking for someone in the US that handles stone removals using basket removal (my stone is mobile). They just send a little tube with a basket on the end down your salivary duct, grab the stone, pull it out. Too bad I can't seem to find anyone that does it, except in the UK. I may just be taking a medical trip to London this year.
Oh well.