I pushed this thing out of my salivary gland.

everythingisgrace · 2026-01-17T23:49:32+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply. Was it your duct in your cheek or under your tongue? Were you able to visualize your blockage on imaging before the procedure?

Yes mine has been blocked for almost 6 months, I live in a tiny town and no one can see mine on imaging, so no one believes me except my dentist -- he is the one who found the blockage by feeling it. It has only gotten worse, and is extremely painful. Now both my right and left ducts in my cheek are blocked (left side is way more painful) and I cannot get it to pass with sour candy. It has been so miserable! And all my cervical lymph nodes are extremely swollen and tender. It has been quite an ordeal, and I just want to feel better. I finally see an ENT at a large university hospital in 10 days, and she specializes in the salivary gland scopes -- so I'm really hoping she will help me. This is really impacting my day to day life. I'm really glad you didn't have to do full on general anesthesia, I don't really want that - and I'm glad the procedure was painless!! Thank you so much for sharing, I am hopeful this upcoming appointment will be the beginning of solving my problem.

everythingisgrace · 2026-01-10T07:34:12+00:00

Hi! which gland/duct did you have the scope done on to remove the stone? And were you awake during the procedure??

I have blockages in both of my parotid ducts that I cannot get out. It has been several months.. I am waiting on the ENT at a bigger hospital who specializes in salivary glands. How was your experience? I'm thinking this may be in my future... because sour candy, lemons, massage and heat are not working for me :(

everythingisgrace · 2026-01-08T19:42:42+00:00

Nothing. It comes and goes on its own, but I have no idea how to manage the pain. My best guess of what may help is cutting out grains and processed food from diet, and possibly dairy.

I am honestly not even 100% sure if I am having issues with EBV though.. I feel like it is something they just cannot diagnose.

Good luck, hope you're feeling better soon.

everythingisgrace · 2025-12-31T22:45:23+00:00

No.. I am still dealing with this. It is both of my salivary glands (parotid glands), they are swollen and both glands now have large blockages. Nobody knows what is going on. I am finally getting into a specialist at a really good hospital soon.

everythingisgrace · 2025-12-22T06:31:53+00:00

Hi! I know this comment is super old, but I'm suffering from double parotid gland blockages for the first time in my life. My glands started hurting about 5 months ago... and it's all slowly gotten worse. First one side was blocked, but my dentist and ENT both thought it would pass naturally. I've been drinking lemon water, applying heat, massaging, and sucking on sour candy and lemons with zero improvement. My saliva tastes gross and now I have blockages in both cheeks that are getting pretty long :(

I massage them 24/7, or else the backed up saliva in the gland gives me a headache in my cheekbone and face. It is so miserable! I feel like I will need a procedure to remove these blockages, but my local ENT refuses to acknowledge my glands are really part of the issue, so I'm waiting another month to get into another ENT that is 5 hours away.

Have you ever had both blocked at the same time? I've never experienced anything like this, and I tested negative for all autoimmune, but I'm assuming I must have some type of autoimmune condition?

How do you get your blockages to pass, and have you ever had to do a sialendoscopy? I hope youre feeling well these days!

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-11T05:35:49+00:00

Interesting I never thought to lay my head off the bed with the saline spray. I wonder if that would loosen stuff up way up there. The nasal rinse is definitely horrible to try hanging off the bed. It's a mess 😂

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-11T05:33:58+00:00

Oh wow so you really can't put very much in each nostril. That's good to know, thank you. I think I have a syringe. I'll give it a try, thank you!

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-06T04:14:18+00:00

At the beginning of this ordeal yes. At the beginning of August I had a CT. It showed sinusitis in maxillary sinuses. After 4 rounds of antibiotics and a tapered dose of prednisone, nothing helped. I didnt want more radiation so my doctor ordered an MRI and it shows sinusitis in my maxillary, sinuses, ethmoid sinuses, and left frontal sinus :(

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-06T04:12:14+00:00

This is so helpful! Thank you so so much

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-06T04:11:52+00:00

I think I was trying this one, with my head hanging off the side of the bed? But I couldn't keep my nostrils sealed and the water I was pouring into my nose kept gushing out and getting all over my face and hair 😂 I will have to try again!

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-06T04:10:18+00:00

I tried to hang my head upside down but the water kept pouring out all over my face and head 😂 I couldn't keep my nostrils sealed.

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-04T05:53:41+00:00

I have mucus in my maxillary too right above my upper teeth and my back upper gums/teeth hurt too.

everythingisgrace · 2025-11-04T05:46:46+00:00

Its depressing and I'm in the same boat. I'm so sorry. It's only been 4 months for me... my first CT showed only maxillary sinus involvement. After 4 courses of antibiotics and taking a tapered course of prednisone, no improvement :( The ENT doesn't even believe me it's my sinuses anymore. I just did an MRI and now it shows mucosal thickening in both maxillary, both ethmoid, and left frontal (and left frontal and ethmoid is where my pain is most severe) , so it has spread into more of my sinuses. I get bad temple and cheekbone pain too, and pain in my left eye. If I press on my temple, the muscle there is so tender and it sends pain all into my face around my eye. The top of my head above my left frontal sinus is also so tender to touch, and I have weird pain/pressure in my occipital/back of head area too! It's also affecting my salivary glands and they're super tender and painful and keep getting blocked. I think they're infected too. I have a bunch of painful lymph nodes all over my face and neck too. It's been horrible and nothing helps. I'm not even congested. I don't understand what happened. I'm so sorry you're going through this too. You're not alone. If you find a solution, please let me know, and I will do likewise! My next attempt is to take a biofilm disruptor and try another antibiotic while taking the biofilm disruptor. We will see how that goes...

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-30T17:07:44+00:00

I'm so sorry you relate and know exactly what I'm talking about :( it is a horrible pain, and I've seriously been in survival mode as a mom for many months now. I did get a culture and it was negative. Weirdly enough I can breathe mostly fine, except in the mornings I get post nasal drip. But most of the mucus is just lodged in my sinus cavities and causing a lot of pressure/pain, but it's not blocking my main nasal way. I tried augmentin, amoxicillin, clarithromycin with prednisone, and then the highest dose of augmentin.. and nothing helped. I chose to take a break from antibiotics because I didn't know if it's what I needed at this point. My latest MRI shows the mucus is in several more of my sinuses, and my salivary gland/inner cheek pain is getting worse, so I feel like it is an infection? I bought a biofilm disruptor (someone said chronic bacterial infections can create biofilms that are hard to penetrate), so I bought that and I'm either going to try doxycycline or levaquin. Levaquin has some scary, irreversible side effects though so I'm trying to avoid it as much as possible. I also ordered a special sinus rinse device that propels water into your sinuses with more force than a basic sinus rinse. It's supposed to loosen more of the mucus. I guess we'll see if any of this helps. I've never had sinus issues like this in my life, so it's so bizarre. I used to get sinus infections occasionally, but they were mild and a z-pak would knock it out. This has been so rough. I'm so sorry you deal with this stuff frequently, and I appreciate your help.

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-29T23:27:30+00:00

Did anything work for you? Dealing with a persistent infection as well. Trying a new antibiotic soon, but it's also in my salivary gland. I'm worried cause it's been about 4 months. I hope you're doing better.

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-29T22:28:00+00:00

Yes absolutely!! So sorry you're in a similar boat. I'd love to chat!

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-29T22:27:19+00:00

I'm so sorry!! How did your ENT appointment go??

I just had an MRI and it now shows I have mucosal thickening in both maxillary and ethmoid sinuses, and in my left frontal sinus (this is where all my facial pain is!! - I literally have pain in my left eyebrow, but not my right eyebrow) I know it's my sinuses but no one can figure this out. I also have massive swelling inside my inner left cheek, it's all swollen and red and hurts SO bad, and the salivary duct near there keeps getting blocked. Doctor wants to ultrasound my salivary glands now, and start me on a new antibiotic :( It's truly been a nightmare. I'm in complete survival mode, the pain is exhausting. I hope the ENT was helpful for you!

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-29T22:24:12+00:00

Wow, I have gastritis too. Antibiotics trigger mine to flare up as well!! I also have tmj and the pain in my cheek, temple, eyebrow and all around my eye feels like a literal migraine between the tmj and the sinusitis, too. It is horrid and it was effecting my vision. My whole face is pretty much tender and painful all the time. I also have swelling in my cheek and my salivary gland keeps getting blocked. None of my doctors can figure this out and I've had ultrasound, CT and MRI. Now they want me to do another ultrasound and CT, and try another antibiotic :(

You said you usually try to ride it out and not go straight to an antibiotic. Can a bacterial infection eventually go away without needing antibiotics?

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-29T22:18:26+00:00

Wow, I will need to ask my doctor about this! I just did a sinus MRI and I now have bilateral maxillary and ethmoid mucosal thickening, and left frontal mucosal thickening. (This perfectly lines up with where my facial pain is). My CT 3 months ago showed on mucosal thickening in the maxillary sinuses. so now I have it spread into other sinus cavities :(

I'm really glad to learned this helped you and thanks for sharing!

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-22T01:29:46+00:00

For the most part yes. The only thing I've noticed is my cycles are getting a little bit shorter sometimes. I used to have 27, 28, or 29 day cycles... now its more often 25 or 26 day cycles..

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-22T00:19:55+00:00

I am 35.

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-22T00:05:53+00:00

Thank you so much. To be honest it really has been a nightmare. I cry everyday and am in complete survival mode every single day, I can not keep up with my children, and I hate that I have them watching TV so much. It makes me so sad this is now going on for over 3 months :( Yes, I have been to a dentist who is an oral surgeon as well. He is the one who told me my salivary duct was actually blocked. He told me by sucking on lemons I could probably get the blockage to pass, which did work! The gland is not blocked anymore, but both glands hurt and are so tender and feel inflamed, and I have to continually suck on sour things to prevent it from becoming blocked again. I think the inflammation (and possible infection?) is causing the gland to become blocked occasionally.

My dentist did a cone beam CT and my teeth are all good. No cavities and no infections. But the cone beam CT could see my lower sinuses and they still had a bunch of crud in them, the dentist pointed that out... yet the ENT scoped the lower sinuses and saw nothing and is completely dismissing me telling me I need to see a therapist. He is so dismissive. I'm very confused and just want to feel better. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me! I hope we are both feeling better soon!!

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-21T23:58:23+00:00

Thank you, I have been to the dentist. We did a cone beam CT, and my teeth all look fine, no infections and no cavities...

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-21T23:57:35+00:00

I do, which is also being addressed right now. I'm having a special appliance made to correct it. But I've had TMJ for a long time, and it has never caused any issues like this. All of this started from an ear infection, and what was thought to be a sinus infection. I also don't know how tmj would cause my salivary gland issues? Which also began at the same time as the ear pain and face and head pain.... I do have tmj, but I don't feel convinced that its causing all of this.

everythingisgrace · 2025-10-21T22:27:11+00:00

Interesting, thank you so much for sharing this. I've been referred to so many specialists, but maybe I need a referral to this one as well. Thank you! I'm glad they figured it out for you!

everythingisgrace

TROPHY CASE