Question: I have dull but persistent pain around my right TMJ, inside my ear down into my throat, sometimes down into the salivary gland under the jaw, under the tongue and into my back teeth. There is often a feeling of somethins swollen and oozing mucus copiously just at the inner opening to the right ear.

I also have cracking, popping and grating sounds in that jaw hinge, sometimes minor, sometimes more severe so that i am afraid to open my mouth wide. There is sometimes a raw sore inside the ear in the front side of the tube and apparently it has bled because i found blood on the Qtip whenever i dried out that right ear after a showerFinally, there is often a slight swelling feeling right in front of the ear, down and right under the right ear, that crackles with a spongy sound and feeling if i press it with a finger.

I must mention two other things that might be important. My TMJs have not worked symmetrically for years or possibly all of my life. When I open my mouth, the left bump of the lower jaw seems to swing out and back while the right has no such bump or motion, it just opens. And, I had an incident about 4 years ago in which I was biting an XXXXXXX and my jaw stuck open. In a panic, I forced me mouth shut, which resulted in a cracking sound in the right TMJ. After that i had the symptoms mentioned. These symptoms come and go in various combinations. Sometimes the insidious pain increases and I find myself clenching my teeth so then I consciously relax the jaw.

I don't think this problem is simply bruxism,as my doctor seems to think, because I often sleep with my mouth open to breathe and it dries out. And I don' t think there is a stone in the salivary gland duct because the saliva flows freely on left and right. I do have a chronic sinusitis for which i have used Fluicasone on and off.

I find it curious that these symptoms come and go in different combinations, and that sometimes, especially in the morning, i can open my mouth wide without the cracking that i hear later in the day. Could this be some sort of arthritis?

Thanks for the detailed response. I do wonder, though, if the sore ear, spongy-ness around ear, and pain in the ear and throat are probably related to the TMJ dislocation? Would these be ongoing complications, or something else, like an infection?