The first week of March, I came home from work with a nagging headache that Tylenol wasn't touching. All of a sudden, I had an incredibly sharp, shooting pain above my temple and then from my temple down to my jaw the left side of my face went tingly numb.
I freaked out. I was convinced I was having a stroke. Considering I had JUST switched insurance 4 days earlier, I called my new provider to see what my coverage was for ER visits. Nothing like trying to be cost-effective at all times! Justin was still at work so I called Mom to describe what was going on. As we talked, I looked in the mirror and the left side of my face was still moving--so maybe I wasn't stroking out after all?!
As is typical for myself, I decided to wait it out. After all, if it was a stroke, I probably wasn't going to succesfully drive myself to the hospital. Guess Justin would just come home from work and find me!
As I sat on the couch with a cold pack, I did some internet research about my symptoms. According to a variety of sites, I either had a brain tumor, ice-pick headaches or TMJ. I decided it was time to stop scaring myself and I went to my gardening class...
The next morning I woke up and I could barely move my jaw. The joint itself didn't want to move and the muscles on the left side of my face were super tight and ached like crazy. Guess I wouldn't be doing any public speaking that day!
I called my regular doctor and they couldn't get me in for another 2 weeks. My regular dentist was off that day so I saw someone else instead. One poke at a muscle in my jaw and I about jumped out of my chair!
TMJ it was. I just wish it would have progressed slowly. Wait, you mean being unable to open your mouth wide enough to eat an apple is a sign? Waking up in the middle of the night with clenched teeth wasn't good? All my ear pain and nagging headaches might be related to my jaw problems? Huh, guess that's why I'm not a dentist.
Anyhow, fast forward 8 weeks and bunches of muscle relaxers later...by the way, muscle relaxers are no joke!!! I stopped by my dentist today to pick up my new Occlusal Device!
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| This is NOT my mouth...but that's basically what my mouthguard looks like! |
I'm super excited. My daily pain has already decreased some since my flare-up but I still wake up in the mornings with sharp pains along my jaw joint and soreness in my cheeks/temporal area by the end of the day. I'm hoping I will be pain-free before long!
But the best part? Justin's had a full-coverage mouthguard for about 6 months now to prevent him from further grinding down his teeth. I used to give him a hard time for being so "sexy" with his mouthpiece (NOT!) and we'll be popping in our plastic devices together come bedtime tonight. Wow. How old are we again?! Last I checked we have only been married 7 months but it's never too early to grow old together :-)
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