Achy Breaky Jaw

The left side of my jaw has been killing me for the past week and a half. It aches all day long and it hurts to open my mouth wide. It's causing difficulty while I eat, and I won't stand for that. The pain actually forced me to go to sick call. (That's a funny thing about medics, we don't like to be the patient.)

I learned from my PA that my face is asymmetrical (!?!?) and I am stressed out (duh!). Those two things together are causing me to clench and grind my jaw while I sleep. I was given a low dose anti-depressant that has benificial side effects: mild muscle relaxation and drowsiness. It basically knocks me on my ass 30 minutes after I take it. It's awesome!

I also went to the dentist and had an ultra sexy bite block made up to wear while I sleep so I can't cause further damage to my teeth. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to keep the boys away from me with this thing on. It's clear plastic and is molded exactly to my teeth. Spit gets stuck in it. It smells awful. But the best part is, the dentist gave me the plaster mold it was made from.


Now I have a plaster mold of my upper teeth! Who wouldn't want such an awesome thing!?

Hopefully this bite block and the meds help ease the pain because my PA wants me to come back in 2 weeks for a check up. If there is no change, I'm going to have to get a CT scan of my skull to check out the damage I've done to the cartiledge in my jaw and get a steroid shot in the joint. Something about big needles being wedged between bones in my face does not excite me in the least.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!