Woman dislocated jaw trying to eat triple-decker burger

Odds and Sods

A woman dislocated her jaw in a bid to eat a giant burger at a Liverpool restaurant. Nicola Peate, 25, was taken to A&E at the Royal Liverpool hospital after being injured when attempting to tackle the triple-decker burger on a work night out. She said that while she was initially able to laugh off the pain, it became "unbearable" the following day.
Nicola, from Ormskirk, added: "I didn’t think I’d dislocated it – you don’t expect it to happen eating a burger. But I tried to eat it with a knife and fork and couldn’t. I couldn’t open my mouth fully. It felt like I had cramp in my tongue, then I started to get an ear ache and a headache. The next morning I woke up and felt really, really ill. The whole side of my head was hurting. Then it started to feel like it was in my jaw and I knew I’d dislocated it.”

An x-ray at the Royal confirmed the dislocation, and a doctor had to manipulate Nicola's jaw back into place with his thumbs. Nicola, who suffers from Ehlers Danlos syndrome, has hyper-flexible joints, which are more prone to dislocation as a result. She said: “The Royal gave me the best dislocation treatment I’ve had. Everyone was really helpful and friendly. If it happens again, I would choose to go back.”

After a second x-ray she was discharged and warned to stifle yawns and avoid opening her jaw too far over the next fortnight. Clinical director of the Royal’s Emergency Department Kathryn Clark said: "Thankfully, incidents such as this are rare but our staff are very experienced in diagnosing and correcting dislocations." She added: "If food is too large, we would recommend cutting it into more manageable chunks, particularly if you have Elhers-danlos syndrome."