Comments | mercureal: we all go looking for paradise, then we go back home

mercureal

we all go looking for paradise, then we go back home

Nov 22, 2006 19:08

there's been a click to my jaw as long as i can remember, and the dentist tells me every single visit that i shouldn't play with it. mostly i don't. i have been clenching/grinding my teeth for the last few months, though, because it's soothing. for two days i've had obnoxious pain in/around my left mandibular joint (more obnoxious even than this ( Read more... )

Comments 11

squid314 November 23 2006, 03:59:22 UTC

I like those pictures. Took me a second to figure out what they were.

mercureal November 23 2006, 05:37:59 UTC

the one with cool colors was taken on a very bright hot day, and the orange was taken on a very foggy cool night. but my favorite part is that those bubbles were made by a man with white hair who blew them into the air through his hands.

mercureal November 23 2006, 11:22:50 UTC

what i have learned from reading my reply: repeat use of the word cool is potentially confusing.

emptyrooms November 23 2006, 05:36:43 UTC

have the same problem with my jaw, not fun :( those ointments like icy-hot seem to help me some. hope you feel better!

love the pictures :)

mercureal November 23 2006, 11:18:16 UTC

fingers crossed that i can get rid of the pain by willing myself not to do damage. (but knowing what i do about my strength of will, thanks for the tip.)

how are your ratkids?

ephemeralentity November 23 2006, 06:35:49 UTC

You definitely want to try to break the habit of grinding and clenching. Jaw surgery is not fun, trust me on this.

I love the bubbles. The picture reminds me of how much I used to like playing with them and how long it's been since I've had the pleasure of doing so. Hmm, I should fix that.

mercureal November 23 2006, 11:14:02 UTC

yes, i do want to stop. aside from the pain, it's a physical reminder that i'm neurotic. my hypothesis is that no surgery is fun. why did you have to have it?

bubbles are childhood. last year a teacher told me about the time he taught a class bubble math and how for an entertaining hands-on activity they paired with a kindergarten class and put the kids in giant bubbles. i like to think of it, of being a child in the moment of being in a bubble.

ephemeralentity November 25 2006, 12:31:08 UTC

Oh, the joint became deformed. After a couple years of my jaw clicking and popping, headaches, inability to open my mouth fully, and unsuccessful nonsurgical treatments, I could not take it anymore. The surgery really wasn't that bad, to be honest. I was only on painkillers for a couple of days, and had a two-hour telephone conversation the day after the operation. The worst part of the ordeal was the six weeks afterward when I could not chew. I cannot begin to describe the cravings I was having, or how terrible it was to watch everyone else eating your favorite dish and not being able to enjoy it with them! Mum was actually really considerate about that, but it got to the point where even foods I hadn't been fond of before the surgery started to look pretty tasty.

_aphoticmemory November 23 2006, 07:36:47 UTC

You take the neatest pictures ever.

And I agree, I'd try as hard as you can to drop the teeth-clenching habit. Definitely not healthy!

mercureal November 23 2006, 11:02:59 UTC

have you seen the movie prancer? it's a christmas movie and there are these sugar cookies that sparkle, just like that sidewalk.

the trouble is that it's what keeps me from shouting or breaking things or breaking faces. but i like chewing, so.

pingugirl November 23 2006, 14:37:52 UTC

beautiful pictures.

I grind my teeth too... I have a mouth guard I wear at night.