There are many common symptoms associated with acoustic neuroma brain tumors, like hearing loss, balance issues, and tinnitus. There are many less common symptoms that can occur, such as facial paralysis, synkinesis, and extreme vertigo. But there is also a class of symptoms I don’t often find articles or doctors discussing that seem to occur somewhat frequently. One of these less discussed but somewhat common symptoms is jaw pain or other jaw issues.
I have chatted with many people with acoustic neuromas who have reported issues with their jaw. Some suffer from TMJ/ TMD (temporomandibular disorder). Many report issues with jaw pain. Some folks even struggle with difficulties such as locked jaw.
When doing some research on this topic, I was able to find articles that discuss links between craniotomy and TMD. This makes a lot of sense, as there is a lot of disruption to the head nerves and muscles from brain surgery. I couldn’t find specific statistics on acoustic neuroma surgical approaches and TMD. It would make sense that the middle fossa approach would have the largest impact on jaw function as that approach involves actually elevating one of the muscles involved in jaw movement.
The articles all say that jaw issues associated with brain surgery tend to be the worst right after surgery and improve over time. There are several ways to help TMD, including physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, hot and cold compress, a night guard to alleviate nighttime clenching, posture correction, pain medication, and stress management. Obviously, the best solution can depend on the cause of the jaw pain. It may take some experimenting to get to the right solutions for you. Personally, I have found a combination of physical therapy exercises and a night guard to be the solution for my jaw discomfort.
Some people, myself included, had jaw issues prior to their brain surgery. While the stress of a brain tumor diagnosis is enough to make any person start grinding their teeth, I have heard several stories of people experience TMD problems before they knew they had a brain tumor. I was able to find just one study showing that an acoustic neuroma can present with TMD type symptoms because of nerve compression. This can even lead to misdiagnosis. The article described how a thirty year old woman went into the dentist several times for jaw pain, and it was thought teeth grinding was the cause. She was prescribed a mouth guard. A year later, she was back at the dentist with increased pain, imbalance, and hearing loss. At that time, she was referred to an ENT and was able to get an MRI that led to an acoustic neuroma diagnosis.
I hope there is more information and research on this topic in the future. I think it is a reasonably common experience, and it would be helpful for patients to know to expect this as well as to have resources for coping with jaw pain issues. Sometimes I think it is just really important to know that other people share your experience. Often, medical professionals can make us feel like we are really odd and unusual in our symptoms. I hope that if you are struggling with jaw discomfort, you are able to find relief and tools that assist you.
The "Lucky" Brain Tumor 
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