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August 14, 2006

Pain in the WHAT??

This has NOT been a good year for me in terms of my physical well-being. I've got problems with my jaw, my knee, my back and now my shoulder. My knee started from about a year ago when it got torqued wrong and was somewhat hyper-extended. It hasn't really bothered me since I had it fixed, and I usually wear a knee-brace and tape when I train. But lately, it's been not good. I think it got bad when I started doing kneeling/sitting forms in iaido, but fortunately, it's been better since I started wearing knee pads. But once in a while, it hurts when I move it, so I've been careful.

My back also didn't take well to the iaido since there's a lot of standing in a long front stance (almost like a forward lunge). You have to keep your back straight which puts a lot of strain on my lower back since my spine isn't as flexible as most people's because of my spinal fusion surgery. It's tough and there are days when it really gives out, but I think it's getting stronger since I seem to be having a little less pain the more I do.

My right shoulder started hurting yesterday. Today, I think I've blown out my deltoid (the main muscle of your shoulder). It's painful when I try to raise it, but ok when I keep my arm close to my body. This happened about 6 months ago to my left shoulder and Dr. Jay fixed it. I'm hoping that since it's not as bad as the first time, it'll just take time, lots of Advil and some heat treatments.

My jaw has been the worst of all my problems. It started in mid-February when I was going through a lot of stress at work. I had gone to my dentist to seek help, but he had no training in fixing that kind of problem. So I went to Dr. Jay. He did some manipulation, but also referred me to another dentist. But she's like 90 years old and very old-school, so I didn't feel good about her advice. Then Don and Nick told me to go see a guy in Howell. Don does computer work for him and Nick's known him for years. Apparently, he's da man when it comes to TMJ cases (temporo-mandibular joint pain). After I talked with him, I immediately could tell he knew what he was doing. He thinks orthopaedically and understands that the jaw is a joint and should be treated as such rather than the problem stemming from your teeth (which I don't believe). He had me go get MRI's and a CT scan which he sent to an oral surgeon--the only one in the state he trusts. I'm still waiting to hear back from them about whether I may need surgery. And in the meantime, this new dentist has made me a lower jaw mouthpiece which I have to wear constantly. He even made me a flexible one for when I work out. It's only been a couple weeks or so since I started wearing it and so far, nothing's changed. But as I understand it, it could take 6 months or more to fix. So I just have to give it more time and stick it out.

Unfortunately, because of my injuries, I've had to skip a lot of martial arts classes, as I'll have to do tonight. Otherwise, I'm continuing to see the dentist and Dr. Jay about once a month to try to keep all my problems under some sort of control. UGH!

Posted by Amy at August 14, 2006 12:15 PM

Comments

Posted by: Priori2ude at August 16, 2006 11:30 PM

Posted by: revjen at August 15, 2006 11:06 PM

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