need some advice...(sorry it's long)

Hello everyone,


I am sorry to bother you all. I have a question for all you critical care nurses...i know this is NOT the place for medical advice...but just wondering if you ever heard of anything like this....(by the way--i am a nursing student)

For some time I've had pain in my left lower jaw...I've had it for a few years on and off...and usually the pain is not bad enough to even give it some thought. Lately, the pain has come back, and increased....to the point where it hurts a lot when my mouth is wide open, and even to open it to eat. I have a wierd bad habit of opening my mouth wide in a stretching matter, and moving my jaw from side to side, and clenching my jaw tight. When I was a child, the dentist also told me that I grind my teeth when I'm sleeping...

I work at a nursing home, and today while I was at work, my jaw began to hurt alot. I asked a doctor (not a dr who has ever treated me before, or who I even know) what the problem could be. He quickly examined my jaw, asked me to open and close my mouth, felt my glands (and my glands on my neck on the left side are a little bit swollen, but i thought it was swollen due to the constant pain), and listened to my lung sounds. He then asked me if i have all my vaccines up to date (i do), and if i am a drinker (I only drink socially, and it's infrequent). I didn't understand really why he was asking me this. He then told me I have an infection in my parotid gland. He gave me a prescription for Levoquin 500mg, take one daily for 7 days, and said nothing more.

When I got home, I researched this online (being the nosy nursing student that I am) and found that the cause of this problem could be pretty serious! The doctor didn't even seen to give it thought that my problem could be tmj or some other bone or arthritic problem.

Does anyone think that this dr's diagnosis could be wrong? Or it seems like he jumped to conclusions and it could be bone pain due to other causes? Or have you seen thing's like this before and he seems like he's correct?

Again, I know this isn't the place for medical advice, just hoping I can hear another persons experienced opinion.

Thanks,
Mia