Ins and Outs of my Life

TMJ -

That is that jaw thing in case you don't know what TMJ is. You know life sure is strange sometimes.
About a month a friend of mine started wearing a brace during the day for her TMJ. SHe explained it to me and said she had a guard to keep her from grinding her teeth. SHe said her dentist had said a lot of teachers get TMJ because of stress and we tend to grind our teeth. Her dentist told her how a lot of other minor health problems such as sinuses, headaches, concentration and so on can be affected by this. Well as she spoke I thought. My jaw doesn't hurt but I sure have a lot of those other things she mentioned. And it did go through my mind I might suffer from this --- and then I pushed it away thinking I am just being a hyperchroniac ...
Well i have been having this ear ache for no reason. Then I got this weekend a toothache. THen it moved around in my mouth. I thought I had a cavity and then I thought my teeth are hurting from a sinus infection. Well it throbbed on and moved. I went to dentist today and he said TMJ. I was shocked. Then thought " yeah I guess i should have known.
So I now will be wearing a night guard. Hopefully I will not need the brace. My mouth feels like all the nerves are exposed. My muscles are so tense. I think I made it worse this weekend and it flared up when I chewed gum .
I have got to learn not to grit my teeth when I am stressed. I do it day and night.