the dentist reports that the crack between my front teeth and the crack between my bottom teeth is off by 3mm. apparently that is not a good thing.For the past year, I've been experiencing intense, chronic ear pain. I went to the ear doc a couple weeks ago, only to learn that things are peachy as far as they are concerned. They recommended visiting a dentist to ascertain whether I was suffering from the dreaded TMJ!!!!! (a side note: TMJ is just short for the temporomandibular joints, which everybody has--the actual disorder is commonly known as TMD or TMJD--my doc said that what I'm suffering from is basically jaw arthritis) So I went to the dentist yesterday, and all is not as it should be in my mouth. On the one hand, I'm happy to have a diagnosis. On the other hand, TMJ bodes for a costly and unpleasant treatment that could include mouth guards, and from the research (and talking to dental wives), maybe even surgery. Having seen my own jaw deterioration--as well as my cross-bite (on one side I have the natural over-bite--my top teeth hang over my bottom teeth--on the other side I have an underbite--this means that I can't put all my back teeth together at once. They just don't fit!) and learning that I have gum recession due to my bad bite alignment--I find myself unable to stop thinking about the problem. Because I'm thinking about it, the pain seems to be more acute--I'm not distracted the way I usually am.
I'm also thinking about the other things associated with TMJ. Headaches, shoulder and back tension, chronic pain leading to heightened anxiety and depression, my need for naps all the time, even my stress eating. Over the past year, my body has been chronically stressed out over this--you use your jaw for everything, from breathing (yes, I'm a mouth breather), to talking, to eating. I've noticed my interactions have, due to a combination of pain and the anxiety I feel when I'm in pain, become increasingly difficult. The truth is, I'm a cranky, impatient lady a lot. I know it bugs my husband, and I can sense that I'm being unreasonable--but sometimes, when I give vent to the distress that I feel inside, I actually feel a little better--until I feel worse for taking it out on my husband.
A jaw disorder can make eating more painful--thus a lot of chewy things are kind of out of the diet right now--but it also makes me long for comfort foods that can take my mind off of the pain. Because the way I feel almost constantly is that my right eustacian tube is being pinched up near my ear-hole. I pop my ear like a million times a day with no real comfort derived from it. My jaw is super-tense and it feels like my eardrum wants to explode but never quite gets there. I have headaches basically every day, and feel very, very fatigued, especially when I need to concentrate on school work, etc.
Even as I gripe about this (and pray fervently that I'll find relief), I think about all the other people out there with way more serious health issues than mine. I know a girl who has bad, bad arthritis--and always has. I can't imagine living in that kind of chronic systemic pain forever. Or my aunt, who suffered a terrible form of intestinal cancer for about a decade before she eventually died. I'm counting my blessings even as I live in constant reminder that one out of whack system in your bod can throw off your whole lifestyle.
Hopefully, as I continue to get treatment (in 2 weeks I find out what the damage is going to be), I can start to regain the person that I want to be, and feel less like I'm just going through the motions of healthy living.
I'm also thinking about the other things associated with TMJ. Headaches, shoulder and back tension, chronic pain leading to heightened anxiety and depression, my need for naps all the time, even my stress eating. Over the past year, my body has been chronically stressed out over this--you use your jaw for everything, from breathing (yes, I'm a mouth breather), to talking, to eating. I've noticed my interactions have, due to a combination of pain and the anxiety I feel when I'm in pain, become increasingly difficult. The truth is, I'm a cranky, impatient lady a lot. I know it bugs my husband, and I can sense that I'm being unreasonable--but sometimes, when I give vent to the distress that I feel inside, I actually feel a little better--until I feel worse for taking it out on my husband.
A jaw disorder can make eating more painful--thus a lot of chewy things are kind of out of the diet right now--but it also makes me long for comfort foods that can take my mind off of the pain. Because the way I feel almost constantly is that my right eustacian tube is being pinched up near my ear-hole. I pop my ear like a million times a day with no real comfort derived from it. My jaw is super-tense and it feels like my eardrum wants to explode but never quite gets there. I have headaches basically every day, and feel very, very fatigued, especially when I need to concentrate on school work, etc.
Even as I gripe about this (and pray fervently that I'll find relief), I think about all the other people out there with way more serious health issues than mine. I know a girl who has bad, bad arthritis--and always has. I can't imagine living in that kind of chronic systemic pain forever. Or my aunt, who suffered a terrible form of intestinal cancer for about a decade before she eventually died. I'm counting my blessings even as I live in constant reminder that one out of whack system in your bod can throw off your whole lifestyle.
Hopefully, as I continue to get treatment (in 2 weeks I find out what the damage is going to be), I can start to regain the person that I want to be, and feel less like I'm just going through the motions of healthy living.
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