Painful Parotid - Does this mean autoimmunity is high?

[Lauranyc]

Hello,

I've been diagnosed with Sjogren's after battling Lyme for 3 years.  I've been doing OK for awhile, having my dry eyes and mouth under control. Lately I've started having a lot of pain in the salivary gland on one side.  Does this mean it is under attack? 

Also- massage hasn't been helping. Any other recommendations?  Thank you and blessings to all of you.

[warmwaters]

Couple of things that may ease the pain.

Warm washcloth or a heating pad on a low setting

Sucking on a lemon drop. Or my ENT actually suggested squirting juice up into the jaw area of the mouth. This stimulates saliva Warning with this one - I was pretty blocked, and it hurt a lot up in the parotid. If I'd been less blocked, the saliva might have cleared the blockage.

Keep massaging from time to time.

A possible longer term solution is to use pilocarpine to stimulate saliva. Per my ENT. I'm just about to try that this coming week.

[Joe S.]

See your doctor as you could have an infection or a stone. I pulled a 1/4" stone out of mine once and it felt so much better.