Sunday, November 04, 2007

Oral Fixation



Oral fixation, it's not just what you think. Oh sure, my oral fixation is shamelessly succulent (well, given my strict Catholic upbringing, redact that to "shamefully") and mammary. Add to that addictiveness a new oral fixation, quite literally a fix-ation.

Let me explain.

The ear-nose-throat doctor-cum-dentist tells me it's TMJ that is at the root of my non-root-canal jaw pain. (You people need to get your minds out of the pig trough:
cum here is from Latin and means with. And it ain't pronounced like that word in skin mags. [The Merriam-Webster link has a pronunciation sound bite.] Besides, it's high-class porn we aim for here anyway.) More accurately, he noted that TMJ describes a muscle and bone structure, not a syndrome.

So, my oral fix-ation consists of a number of things:

1) putting ethyl chloride on the skin outside my jaw and near my ear and temple. That's kind of cool, literally. It creates a freezing. The cotton ball makes a crinkling sound. Do athletes and ballet dancers spray this directly on, say, a pulled hamstring? I imagine the danger is that in merely masking the symptoms you incur greater injury.

2) Megadoses of naproxen (Aleve), which I'm not fond of.

3) Which brings me tonight's topic: I'm supposed to do this jaw exercise:

-- Place tongue on roof of mouth.

-- Open to approximately half of normal opening; keep tongue in place. Open for 10 seconds; rest 15 seconds.

-- Repeat for 6 times, 3 times a day. After 2 days, increase to 12 times, 3 times a day. After 2 more days, increase to 18 times, 3 times a day. After 3 days, change your name to Pinocchio or any wooden marionette of your choosing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Right.

Just picture it.

I look like one of those choirboys-cum-eunuchs on a Christmas card.

Or in a meeting at work, the person on the opposite side of the table will think I'm mocking every word. (Darn! Caught again!)

Someone on the bus (if I ever take it again) will think my mouth motions are an entreaty to meet them in a back alley at the next stop for some oral hijinks.

Oral fixation indeed.

Eighteen times three times a day?

Cum on!

Not on your maxillary-dental-labial life!

5 comments:

Glamourpuss said...

You could always wear a bag on your head. Or join a gurning society...

Puss

Anonymous said...

Hope yout temporo-mandibular joint feels less crabby soon.

And I'm not afraid to say that this was and alarmingly cum-happy entry.

Patti said...

Those exercises will no doubt strengthen muscles you never knew you had.

Odat said...

Hmmmm...wonderding what patti means by that....lol

Ok, back to the TMJ...good luck with that..I know how painful that can be...I've gone thru it myself..my jaw bonce actually popped out of it's socket once, another time my mouth was stuck shut (much to the delight of those around me who think I speaketh too much)....I had to wear a mouth guard...take muscle relaxers..and eventually all was well....I chew gum a lot too now...I'm wondering if that helps....
Good luck with the mouth exercises!
Peace

Pawlie Kokonuts said...

Puss,
I am the president-elect of The Gurning Society of Elderly Solipsists. (That picture on Wiki looks too much like me these days.)

Madame M.,
Yes, less crabby and less lobsterly.

Patti,
Right. Do I detect a shadow of naughtiness in your comment?

Odat,
Man! you had it bad. You give me hope, o.d.a.t., seeing that it did get better for you. Today it's ok.

pk

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