Considerable Pain

 

I am damn hungry.  But, there is a problem.  My jaw/ear hurts like hell if I try to chew.  It is annoying to say -the-least.

Currently I am suspicious that it is my TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder) that is acting up, although it could be an ear infection.  

• The start of feeling pain began ~Saturday afternoon.  But at that point it was mild.  
• By Saturday evening it was more painful (ear and jaw) and I was thinking it was possibly a build-up of earwax in my left ear.  So, I lavaged my ear with warm water into which I had added a bit of hydrogen peroxide.  Unfortunatley, no earwax was released, suggesting my external auditory canal was clear.
• As it progressed into Sunday, my pain started to grow more.... and included my ear and jaw of course, but also it felt like my sinuses were also inflamed, and I felt warm on my forehead and on the left side of my neck.  I took my temperature.... and although I was within the normal range, my forehead temperature WAS ~1 degree warmer than my normal.  And, when I tested the temperature on my neck, it registered a number indicating a mild inflammation temperature.  This had me begin to think I must have a middle ear infection.  
• I put a few drops of rubbing alcohol in my ear canal and laid on the bed on my side for about 20 minutes, and then turned over to let the alcohol drain out.  This technique accomplished three potential benefits:  a)  It can soften and loosen ear wax (but that was not likely because my other technique already suggested no ear wax accumulation).  b) it can reduce infection (external ear only), and c) it can reduce inflammation in the region.  
• If the alcohol did nothing, I had planned to go to the "Med-Express" about 15 minutes away from home.  
• The alcohol treatment did reduce the pain a bit, but not as much as I had hoped.  So, I was torn.  Should I travel to the Med-Express where most of the time they will not do a damn thing.... or should I go swimming with my wife?  
• I decided to try to hold out.... I was feeling less pain, so I was thinking it seemed more likely NOT a middle ear infection, and started to think it was my TMJ perhaps.  So, I went swimming.  
• The coolness on my forehead and neck (and whole body) felt REALLY GOOD. It reduced quite a bit the pain and discomfort I had.  It was not zero, but it was quite a bit less.  
• I was quite tired from the pain, and the lowering of that pain helped me to realize how tired I felt.  
• Yesterday evening went relatively smoothly.  My wife and I ate.  I was eating and chewing rather gingerly as my pain in the ear/jaw region was only REDUCED, not absent.  
• AS ALWAYS.... (I only have missed wearing one perhaps 4-5 days in the many decades I have had the things.)  ..... I wore my bite splint when I went to bed and went to sleep (I also took two tablets of the aspirin (an NSAID) along with my vitamins).  
• This morning when I awoke, my jaw/ear was PAIN FREE!!!!!!!!
• Until.... I tried to take a bite out of an apple.  Then, the pain was strong and pronounced again.  This type of movement pain now leads me to suspect I am having a TMJ Flare-Up.  I think this is far more likely than the ear infection I previously was concerned I had.  
• So, I have not eaten anything anything yet today.  So, I am damn hungry (as I previously stated).  
• Fortunately, talking doesn't hurt, so I was able to give lectures.  It appears to be the movement that is required to eat food (chewing) is the culprit, which is much more suggestive of TMJ.  And closing my mouth together, where upper jaw teeth articulate with lower jaw teeth..... agony.   

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• Ran 11 miles this morning (~16 km).  Surprise!  (sarcasm).  However, I must admit the running felt good.... it took my mind off of my jaw/ear for a bit.  Listening to the Capuchin Mass was very helpful as well.
• PCS = still very strong..... probably about an 8.5.  When I was feeling the near constant pain Sunday, I would lay on the bed and daydream about smoking my pipes.  The daydreaming about pipes I did while carrying out the alcohol treatment on my ear was also very beautiful.  Maybe I am truthfully just deluding myself in thinking that there is any value or merit in refraining from them?  In many ways I am thinking the only thing keeping me from picking up a pipe at the moment is that I am nervous that if I do so, without a plan, I will just fall back into the old routine within a few days. 
  

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Another, final thought just occurred to me as I was thinking about my jaw/ear pain.  I cannot say this with certainty, but I do NOW have an idea of where the swelling and the pain may have originated.  On this past Friday, my wife and I were eating dinner later in the evening.  Unfortunately in my bigger than my head salad, I had one green olive that still had the pit in it (we buy pitted olives of both green and black, but you still sometimes do get an errant pit).  I ended up "finding" this damn pit when I CHOMPED DOWN on it with my back teeth.  

It really hurt like hell!  I have chomped on a pit at least a couple of times each year.  But, it dissipated rather quickly like it has in the past.  HOWEVER, I am now wondering..... because I chomped on this pit farther back in my jawline than I have typically done.... I am wondering of that "CHOMP" may have aggravated my TMJ Joint.... and overnight, it had become inflamed?  It WAS the correct side of my jaw that was feeling the discomfort.  But... I had never had a response like that occur from chomping on a pit.  Previously the pain had always been transitory.  

 But, now thinking about it..... it does seem a little TOO coincidental that the day after chomping down on an olive pit, I start having these symptoms........ I now am thinking this (the pit) may have been the cause of the whole damn thing.  If so, it should continue to dissipate over the next couple of days.  

PipeTobacco