....shunned and mocked my blog. He would never let me take pictures of him to post. I always had to take them on the sly. He would tell me that I could only blog about his anecdotes if I paid him. I did anyway, and never paid him a dime.
So you can imagine my feeling of surprise and smugness when he sent the following letter, but then as I continued to read, my feelings of concern and compassion. Here goes...
"Mom, I need you to blog about something for me. Sometimes when I open my mouth too wide it gets stuck open and it's hard to close. This has been going on for about 2 years but it hasn't really bothered me until about 3 days ago when it got stuck open for about 3 minutes. Since then, it's happened twice. I felt helpless and horrible. On your blog, I need you to ask your readers for suggestions as to how to fix the problem or just how to get your mouth closed again when it DOES happen. Or maybe you have a better idea for how to get suggestions."
The best Facebook comment so far was this....
"Tell him not to take the scripture about "opening your mouth" so seriously. Also, most dentists can diagnose if it's a problem with one or both TMJ's and recommend treatment options. Tell him to stop stressing out so much and just enjoy the journey."
Any advice? Mine is to go see a dentist! Thanks for listening!
17 comments:
TMJ was my first thought. I'd see a dentist. The dentist might recommend an oral surgeon.
Yep. Tell him to see a dentist. Sounds like TMJ. Tell him he'll be ok, and to stop chewing gum. That can aggravate the problem.
yep, I agree with the other two! Get to a dentist soon. TMJ is not fun.
afraid they are all correct.
When mine gets bad...I put one finger on my jaw bone insde my mouth and then with my thumb on my cheek apply presure.
But I agree...go see the dentist!
I'm sorry but I can be of no help, and I'm so sorry for him, I send my best wishes his way though :)
My chiropractor helped me with that issue a few years ago. But a dentist sounds good too.
Jen,
This is Natalie, Blake Wayman's daughter. I had that happen to me for a while, and my dad, the dentist, just said I was clenching my teeth at night, most likely, so I had to consciously keep my teeth apart while laying in bed trying to fall asleep at night. It is often stress related, which is likely, since he is on a mission. So until he can or has to see a dentist, try focusing on keeping the jaw relaxed. Your blog is very impressive.
Until he can see a dentist about a possible TMJ problem he should concentrate on putting his tongue between his teeth when studying, driving, etc. It will help relax the muscles. If his mouth gets stuck open he can use the method I used when it happened to me. I put both of my pointer fingers on my bottom teeth and pulled down gently and my jaws released and I could close my mouth. I hope he gets some relief soon. I wear a night brace in my mouth to keep my jaw muscles relaxed and it relieves the symptoms. This is all my personal opinion and what worked for me. Good luck.
HOLY COW, he needs to go to the dentist, and yes, possibly an oral surgeon. It is probably TMJ and he probably needs a night guide, if not more. I read about this girl in a magazine once, whom, TMI, was with her boyfriend, and her mouth got stuck open. The boyfriend had to call her mother, explain what they had been doing (raised eyebrow...) and ask for her to come get her daughter. It's just going to continue to get worse until he gets it treated. I wish he had brought it up when he was home! It is no small thing and he shouldn't put it off. If he is grinding or clenching his teeth at night (which most TMJ suffer's do- like my sister- and me for a period of time- which causes the increase in symptoms, and ) he can get a night guide at the drug store for around $30, but hands down he needs to go to a dentist. This will distract him from his mission and he needs to take care of it so he can get back to business. Putting it off won't help.
Chiropractor...
I absolutely HAVE to share this link with you. It has a video about a girl who yawned in class and her mouth got stuck open. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. You never want to get caught yawning in class! The video shows what the doctors did to help her mouth close too!
http://cosbysweaters.com/2011/04/09/british-teen-yawns-in-class-then-her-mouth-gets-stuck-open/
Magnesium (like Natural Calm) might help. Take it at night and it'll help relax him and his muscles. And do other things to help with inflammation.
My brother in-law had his mouth pop open during a yawn and had to be sedated so it would relax. Not to be messed with! He needs to get to a dentist. A generic mouth guard can be purchased at the drugstore to help with teeth clenching during the night.
My chiropractor told me how to fix this without a dentist. Inside your mouth you can feel a tight muscle next to your jaw joint. Message this every day for a few minutes. Buy a cheap mouth guard to keep yourself from clenching teeth at night. That's it and the problem will fade away.
hi Jen :-)
I always had a "funny jaw". It would pop at weird times, occasionally feel like it was sticking open, etc..
My family had told me that I had ground my teeth together in my sleep when I was young. I figured that had something to do with it.
I knew that as a young adult, I would sometimes clinch my jaw to help me keep going in life.
So I had a weird jaw. Whatever. We were very broke, I had four young sons... it was just "life".
Till it went to being a very painful jaw. To the point it was causing some of my migraines. That got bad enough to literally make me sick to my stomach.
I went to the dentist. They put me on muscle relaxers at first.
My jaw got to the point that I could only eat really soft foods. And anything I did eat, had to be cutable into small bites to get into my mouth.
I went back to the dentist. She sent me to a oral specialist. At first he had me wear a bite guard. ALL THE TIME. (Eating while wearing one is GROSS!)
He then decided that my jaw just needed "popped". To this day (20 years later), my eyes tear up just thinking about the pain that attempt caused!!! For d-a-y-s.
Several weeks later, I returned to the dentist. Pleading my case. Wasn't there somebody else I could be seen by?!!!
There was.
Before I was even seen by the specialist, he had his assistant take a full round the head x-ray of my jaw. He then showed us the x-ray and stated that he could try to play horrorics, by wearing full braces, amongst other steps, but that he would be wasting my time and putting me through a lot of pain in the process. I needed surgery. And NOW!
He was so positive about all of it, that he would make us a bet. If we really wanted to go the route of braces etc. and give all of that a try first, he would. But then when all of that was proven ineffective and we gave in to the surgery, he would pay for it, because he had been right.
continued ...
part 2 -
While having him pay for the surgery sounded wonderful, going through all of the rest of it just to end up there, sounded like way more pain then I could even begin to deal with.
The night before my surgery, I could not get my mouth open wide enough to lick the choc. chip cookie dough off of my finger.
The surgery was painful. Yes indeed! And so was the following months of physical therapy. But I was only 32 at the time, and fully determined that I WAS going to be able to eat real food again! And I do. Mostly. Overcooked / dried or hard food is a no-can-do. Can't bite into a whole apple, but they are slice-able ;-). And gum is so-o-o-o-o not worth it!
The second specialist ended up writing an article about my case for a well known medical journal. I had been the patient with the worst jaw problem to have ever entered his office (during surgery, when they got to my jaw joint, I had only one sixteenth of my jaw joint pad left. They took a section of my temple to make a new pad). AND, I was also the patient who had made the furthest recovery back towards 'normal' ever. He claimed that my case totally fit his snaobisis that a patients self determination plays a huge part in the extent of their recovery.
The chiropractor I am seeing for my one type of vertigo (I have two different types - at the same time 8-/) does a combination of massage, pressure points and 'popping'. While working on part of the head area around my ears, he has commented on how much "TMJ" I have. I knew I again did. Also wasn't surprised. The second oral specialist had said it was highly possible I would have it again....
The chiropractor's massaging of the area, etc. IS helping the "TMJ" as well as the vertigo.
Jen, I did NOT share all of this with you to freak you out or anything!!! !!! !!! I shared it so that you and then your son, become aware that it's not wise to make light of the situation.
I do not know whether he has any type of medical insurance while he is on his mission. I do however know that he DOES need to get medically checked! Which type of specialist you go to first is at your discretion. But go to one!
His case might be early enough on, that they can just teach him stretching exercises, have him wear a mouth splint at night, teach him to avoid certain types of food, etc. and never need to progress past that.
Trust me, that is my hope for him!
Jen, he not only asked for your help, but also for you to ask it of others. A sure sign of maturing! :-)
My Chiropractor fixed my TMJ in one easy, painless treatment.
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