Noticed Swelling And Stiffness Under Ear And Below The Joint Of The Jaw. What To Do?

Posted on Sat, 22 Sep 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 Answered on

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I woke up this morning with a swelling under my right ear and below the joint of the right jaw. If I apply a heat compress the swelling goes down. When I open my jaw my jaw feels stiff the joint on the right feels stiff

Answered by Dr. Sumitra Kumar Mukherjee (-3 hours later)

Dear XXXXXXX

Thanks for the query.

It appears that you may have an inflamed right parotid gland in response to acute parotitis or mumps. Your description fits well to this condition.

This condition is a self healing one and will settle down by itself. You may take some pain killer like aspirin or paracetamol. As the cause is usually a virus antibiotics got no effect on this condition.

Though this appears like a typical case, I encourage you to consult your nearest doctor to examine and confirm the possibility. Yet, there is no reason to be concerned.

Hope this answers your query. Let me know if you have any other concerns.

Kindest regards
Dr.S.K.Mukherjee

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad