First of all, thanks to all of you who were concerned about my health (both on-blog and off-blog) and urged me to go to the doctor. After a week of excruciating pain in my ear, I finally went to the doctor on Friday. I was starting to get really worried that there was something horribly wrong with my ear, and that I would start losing my hearing or something. The doctor checked my ears and throat and he said both looked beautiful. When I described my symptoms to him, he said, "Oooohhhh.... I know." He made me open and close my jaw while he pressed right in front of my ears. Ouch. He diagnosed me with TMJ and said it's from clenching my jaw too much. I know this is true--I do it a lot, and especially lately. Stress, I guess.
So I'm on lots of Aleve with orders not to chew gum or anything crunchy. He also prescribed valium. I find this hilarious! I feel like a housewife from the 50's or something. But he said it's a muscle relaxant and my muscles need to relax so that they don't keep tightening up in my jaw. I wonder what else it will relax???
Anyway, I'm feeling much better now. This is such a relief. Now I can eat more than smoothies, soup and applesauce. Also, my brain seems to work better too, now that the sharp stabbing in my ear has diminished quite a bit. Yay!
So here are some pictures of us being old fogeys. One evening last week we were sitting in the living room working on stuff. Josh had been to the gym and was sore from lifting weights. Here he is using the "alien head" massager that we got from Margaret and Scott:
And I have the heating pad on the side of my jaw and ear that was so incredibly painful:
We're doing much better today! Josh is even wearing his really tight jeans that he keeps hoping 
will stretch. I tell him that if you can't get the top button closed, it means they're too small! But he can't bear to throw them away. Every once in a while he pulls them out and wears them for a day. He usually gets a stomachache. I tell him he looks like a character from a Tim Burton movie with his skinny legs in skin-tight jeans. But he still wants to prove that he can fit in those jeans!
2 comments:
I use a biteplate at night so I don't clench my jaw. It is fantastic ... cuts way down on the pain & headaches.
My husband also has a pair of too tight jeans that give him a tummy ache. Every time he wears them I think "note to self ...must hide those jeans in a better hiding spot."
You may have thought it blended in- But I found the alcohol!!!!! Just drink away the blues- the best solution, especially for someone of my age!
No, glad you're feeling a little better!
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