After This, I Promise to Stop Whining

Well, the jaw is a tiny bit better this morning, but not completely back to normal. So weird!!! I really thought it would have improved more. When I first woke up, I still couldn't get my molars to touch, but now (about three hours after waking), having chewed, spoken and sneezed once (all count as jaw exercise, IMO!), I can touch together the molars on the right side, but still not the left. I suspect it could be muscular and not bone-related, because the jaw muscle on the left side still feels really tight and weirdly inoperative in a way, in that I can't make it clench, even if I wanted to force that side down. I posted my complaint on a mailing list that I've been part of since the mid-nineties, and the nice people there, as well as Mary from Owlhaven, had great suggestions for muscle relaxants and other-than-Tylenol meds, as well as a mouthpiece for sleeping. I honestly didn't know Tylenol was so inadequate! I think the only ibuprofen I have in the house is my son's kiddie version, so I'll have to hit the store or take a mega-dose of the children's liquid stuff. I do have Aleve, so maybe I'll read the warnings on that and take some. Hmm.

I think what bothers me even more than the actual condition is not knowing precisely how it happened, and not knowing when exactly things will be right again. If I could point to a specific moment or injury as the cause, I would at least be able to avoid repeating this. Nevertheless, the fact that the condition has improved, however slightly, since last night gives me hope that my jaw will be back to normal within a day or few, and that feels pretty good.

Probably I'll have to get a mouthpiece, and I may have to get one for the kiddo as well, as he grinds his teeth when he sleeps, several times a week. Really, though, this has been the darnedest thing. My jaw has occasionally needed to click or crack in order to free it up (not often, but it has been known to happen), but the condition has never lasted more than a couple of hours. I'm glad my speech isn't affected, as I'm volunteering at school tomorrow and need to talk all day.

Okay, now I'm going to stop obsessively working my jaw and give it a rest. Maybe that'll help, too.