9.11.2008

true story.

Last week I was feeling really stressed about finances as I was driving back to work from BYU. I found a ziploc bag of carrots that my mom had packed for me and tore into them.


I ate them angrily and vigorously, one after the other. I wasn't even thinking about the carrots. I just devoured them in one solid streak of chewing until they were gone.

An hour later my jaw started to hurt. Really hurt. It wouldn't go away. Then I notcied that my regular bite was off; I couldn't close my mouth normally because my teeth wouldn't line up properly.

I described the symptoms to my brother Tom (a doctor) and he told me that I'd damaged my temporomandibular joint. He prescribed eating only foods that were easy to chew, and taking 800 milligrams of ibuprofen 3 times a day for 5 days. Then he laughed at the cause of injury.

So of course I didn't take his advice. I hate popping pills and I thought that my jaw would mend itself for sure.

Fast forward a week and it's worse. Much worse. I started taking the ibuprofen last night and I don't even have the option eating foods that aren't easy to chew.

Moral of the story:
1. Listen to doctor Tom
2. It's hard to believe that I did this with carrots.

4 comments:

Tom said...

I hope the Ibuprofen works! Stress relief/meditation/head massage may also be in order. How did your Spanish test go?

Cambrienelson said...

Thanks for the laugh : )
An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but carrots apparently won't.

Whittron said...

oh man, I hate carrots!

w. leavitt said...

what other foods can destroy our bodies through the mere act of chewing them?