NationStates Jolt Archive

See, I'm too lazy to go to a real doctor and it's hardly life threatening. More an irritance than anything else.

Whenever I chew on something, I get this sharp pain in my right ear, right below the lobe. It's incredibly irksome. Any idea what it might be?

A highly experimental nanobot virus that went rogue and is now taking over your body, starting in your right ear.

Have a nice day.

http://www.entassociates.com/tmj.htm



An excerpt:

The pain may be sharp and searing, occurring each time you swallow, yawn, talk, or chew, or it may be dull and constant. It hurts over the joint immediately in front of the ear but pain can also radiate elsewhere. It often causes spasm in the adjacent muscles that are attached to the bones of the skull face and jaws. Then pain can be felt at the side of the head (the temple), the cheek, the lower jaw, and the teeth.

A very common focus of pain is in the ear. Many patients come to the ear specialist quite convinced their pain is from an ear infection. When an earache is not associated with a hearing loss and the ear drum looks normal, the doctor will consider the possibility that the pain comes from TMJ dysfunction.

There are a few other symptoms besides pain that TMJ dysfunction can cause. It can make popping, clicking, or grinding sounds when the jaws are opened widely. Or the jaws lock wide open (dislocated). At the other extreme, TMJ dysfunction can prevent the jaws from fully opening. Some people get ringing in their ears from TMJ trouble.

http://www.entassociates.com/tmj.htm



An excerpt:
...

Interesting. Not exactly what I thought, but it does seem to be somewhat of a possibility. Methinks I will seek my doctor out about it after all. At worst, I've spent ten dollars on the doctor visit.

might be tmj.

my mom gets them, i thnik she used a retainer or something to help.

...

Interesting. Not exactly what I thought, but it does seem to be somewhat of a possibility. Methinks I will seek my doctor out about it after all. At worst, I've spent ten dollars on the doctor visit.
You only have to pay ten dollars for a doctor's visit?!
Wow. what sort of witch doctor quack is that? and where?
Here if I go to the community clinic, it's dead cheap (~$5US), but if it's something that can't be explained thru body language and basic english (the doc's english ain't too good) I need to go into HK itself. Last time I did that it cost $100US (ouch). And that was just a 15 minute consultation to get a medical cert due for stress.


While we're on medicals, anyone got a good cure for a sore throat? I came down with a mild infection over a week ago, and cough mixtures and lozenges just don't seem to be working. It's starting to really annoy me. So much so, that the bottle of vodka in the freezer is looking better and better. Nothing kills an infection better than straight vodka.

While we're on medicals, anyone got a good cure for a sore throat? I came down with a mild infection over a week ago, and cough mixtures and lozenges just don't seem to be working. It's starting to really annoy me. So much so, that the bottle of vodka in the freezer is looking better and better. Nothing kills an infection better than straight vodka.

Here's a cheap treatment that's only a little unpleasant. Gargle with warm salt water. It really does help. Just pour yourself a glass of warm water and stir in two teaspoons of salt. Then gargle away.

You only have to pay ten dollars for a doctor's visit?!
Wow. what sort of witch doctor quack is that? and where?
Here if I go to the community clinic, it's dead cheap (~$5US), but if it's something that can't be explained thru body language and basic english (the doc's english ain't too good) I need to go into HK itself. Last time I did that it cost $100US (ouch). And that was just a 15 minute consultation to get a medical cert due for stress.


While we're on medicals, anyone got a good cure for a sore throat? I came down with a mild infection over a week ago, and cough mixtures and lozenges just don't seem to be working. It's starting to really annoy me. So much so, that the bottle of vodka in the freezer is looking better and better. Nothing kills an infection better than straight vodka.
It's the copayment for my HMO. http://digital-breakdown.com/img/sweatdrop3mc.gif

Here's a cheap treatment that's only a little unpleasant. Gargle with warm salt water. It really does help. Just pour yourself a glass of warm water and stir in two teaspoons of salt. Then gargle away.
Great idea. I'd forgotten about that one. Dentist had me do that when I had my wisdom teeth out, to prevent infection. Off home now to try it. Cheers.