2004-02-18 - 1:32 a.m.
I ALWAYS WONDERED WHERE MY MANDIBULA WAS
Following up on our discussion, here's a tale of medical woe from me. Viewer discretion is advised.
So I had to get stupid braces in 6th grade and I had 'em for about two stupid years. My smile is now perfectly constructed, but ever since I got 'em off I've had these problems with my jaw. It clicks and pops a lot, and I can't fully open my mouth without like shifting my lower jaw to one side to move the joint out of the way of whatever it clicks on. Not that I ever have to open my mouth all the way, except at the dentist where I can go "look what you did to me" while I do it.
I'm pretty sure I more or less have TMJ/TMD, which thankfully can be corrected. It doesn't hurt though, it's more annoying than anything. But it can give me headaches if my jaw feels really out of whack on a given day. I'll have to look into treatment sometime, but the only dentist I know of who does that sort of thing is the one who screwed me up in the first place.
When I first figured out that something was wrong, I was concerned that my jaw would end up being a problem during certain activities. Like how can I eat if overusing my jaw makes my head hurt? But I haven't had any problems eating. I don't chew gum anymore, though. I was kinda worried about kissing too, but that's turned out okay.
But I'll be damned if we didn't get these new headphones at work that seem to be bothering my jaw. They're pretty expensive headphones, the kind with the soft padded cups that cover your ears. They're a lot heavier on the top of my head than our last headphones were. And I just seem to be involuntarily moving my jaw a lot while I wear them, like I'm trying to shift it into a better position.
I dunno what's going on. The weirdest thing I read is that there can be a relationship between problems with your jaw and the discs in your back, which I've also had trouble with before. Mother Nature is a maaaaad scientist.
Thinking of my back reminds me that I should make a list of topics for future updates, cause I've really been coming up with nothing here lately. The saga of my terrible back injury, that might make a good one. Or an essay on my poor, rickety knees. And happier subjects like my wedding and my new house. Perhaps I'll leave it up to the readers to decide. What say you, Chuck?
fin
