Jaws

[valerian]

Some of you who live in close proximity to me have already either a.) noticed that I am especially crabby and impatient as of late, or b.) know that something is wrong with my lower jaw. For the rest of you, because your life isn't exciting enough without hearing me kvetch about another bizarre physical ailment, I'll elaborate. I will give you the

Comments

:(

[heevoling]

i'm wondering if you bruised your jawbone. bone bruises are extremely and constantly painful, and the pain usually lasts for a couple to a few months (unfortunately). given that you've not seen any significant abating of the pain for almost 2 weeks now, i wonder if that's what it could be?

Re: :(

[valerian]

Hmmm, yeah, that sounds like something that would happen to me, alright. :P

I'm still wondering if it is an abscess, and it was just to early to see anything on the x-ray at the time. I go in for a cleaning on the 22nd so I'll get the dentist to take another. But I think you're probably right, I've just done something nasty to the bone. *sigh*

[bitogoth]

do you have a mouthguard for the clenching/grinding? I have a love/hate relationship with mine- it's the most expensive piece of plastic i own (with the questionable competition of my credit card). i am so, so sorry you're going through such pain- lack of sleep makes it 100x worse. *hugs*

[valerian]

I do, and it's the most irritating piece of crap I own (I can't say expensive because our plan paid 80% of the cost). It is a perfect fit obviously, but it's still uncomfortable and I loathe the taste of plastic. Needless to say I don't wear it as often as I should.

I wasn't wearing it the first two nights the pain appeared, and as I think back I may have been pretty stressed on those days. It was the first really busy weekend I'd had in months, plus I had a photo shoot set for the holiday Monday. I'll bet I was grinding up a storm at night. However I'm still leery that it could be an abscess. My TMJ hurts like the devil but my crowned tooth also still aches very deep down. Who knows, I may have bruised the bone *under* the tooth which may be why it hurts so bad and is taking so long to calm down.