Here’s my long overdue jaw/TMD update for those concerned. Thanks so much to those who have been thinking of me and checking up on me – you’re the sweetest! ♥
So, um, it’s been over 2 months since my last post about this. It seemed every time I thought of doing one I took a step backward again and didn’t feel like being depressing ^^; But I’m feeling pretty positive right now, and hopefully nearing the end of this mess! Let’s do an update list to make this quicker ~
-Jaw problems started at the end of February; got bad sometime in March
-I had an MRI in April
-It showed that there was no disc out of place in my jaw as my doctor had thought there would be; rather the discs were being compressed in there because my jaw was locked up, likely due to muscle tension
-Tried muscle relaxants; didn’t do a whole lot.
-I started having involuntary jaw movement from muscle spasms, where my jaw moved completely by itself O_o Weirdest thing ever, seriously. This is still happening to me daily, but thankfully far less frequently than it was. My jaw just randomly likes to tug from side to side or wide open, heh ^^;
-I’ve been doing physical therapy for about a month and a half now, and IT’S WORKING! Before I could only open my jaw maybe halfway at best, and now I can open fully or nearly fully, which is WONDERFUL!
-I still have muscle tension in my jaw which is uncomfortable and sometimes pulls my teeth slightly out of alignment, which is really irritating, but I think it’s improving. Hopefully for real this time.
-I am starting to be able to eat some more things. Yay!
-Not being able to eat normally for so long has had some unfortunate side effects on my health, such as weight loss and a lowered immune system (I had two colds in May, ugh >.<). It’s also going to take some time to build the strength back up in my jaw, so chewing will be challenging for a while.
So there we have it. I’m doing much better, but still have some recovering to do. Obviously I’ve been drawing normally for some time now, so I don’t think this will have any further effect on my artwork; I’m just making a point of trying to keep decent posture while I work. I still don’t know what the initial cause of all this was, but hopefully it will be behind me soon.
I’ve been thinking a lot about opening Paypal commissions over on DA lately, especially with all my recent medical expenses. Also wondering about trying some adoptables...we'll see.
Whew, did you make it through all that? XD Thanks for reading, guys – hope you’re all doing great and enjoying your summers! *big hugs*
