This past week I had the suspicion that I had been clenching at night. I think I actually knew this earlier in the week, but was in denial and tried to just focus on keeping my teeth apart at night. But that's not the way it works. Clenching is big no no, for recovery (and just in general!). Yesterday morning when I woke up, I paid really close attention and sure enough I was clenching. I knew what this meant. I needed to go back on muscle relaxers at night. . I called my doc just to make sure, and he confirmed what I had been thinking. This was a little depressing, as the meds make me drowsier in general, but I also know the bone needs to heal, and if I"m clenching this is going to slow down or do something worse. I wish I could just make myself not clench my teeth at night, but I've been doing it since I was a teenager and it's a bit of a habit, and since I do it while in my sleep, there's not a whole lot I can do to control it. So now I'm officially back on meds until I can get a mouth guard, which will have to be after the braces come off.
I was researching clenching/grinding yesterday (the actual term is "bruxism"). I learned some new things. 1 out of 10 people clench or grind. Consuming magnesium helps, because it helps relax the muscles. Putting a warm moist compress in front of your bottom ear lobe can help relax jaw muscles. Eliminating coffee, chocolate, tobacco and alcohol from your diet can help reduce bruxism. Also, some people put their tongue in between their teeth because it forces their jaw muscles to relax.
And for the picture... They're starting to all look the same!
No comments:
Post a Comment