Big Mouth (Piece)

Soooooo, how has your week been? Ha-Ha. Been a little cray-cray? Me, too! Must be a coincidence!

Still trying to recover from whatever I came down with. No fever, so it doesn't sound like Corona. But, c'mon, it has been two weeks already. Every morning I blow bloody snot and boogers into the toilet paper. The cough has mostly subsided. I am thinking that I may have concocted a compromise of sorts with the Corona Virus...the Fever Free option. 

A couple of weeks ago, P.C. (Pre-Corona) I was at my dentist's office for my 6 month tooth-tune up. For a 56 year old, I have great teeth. One cavity. Over a lifetime. Au natural. I have decent dental cleaning habits. But, the dental hygienist that day made a couple of pointed observations. I liked her. She leaned on me, a star pupil overall. 

She noted that there is wear and tear on my teeth associated with night-time grinding. I have heard that before. Second, she said that my gums would benefit from a Water-Pik like device. So, I followed both recommendations. When I was younger, I had a cinder-block for a skull and would resist outside advice, no matter really how qualified the person . I think my multiple concussions and age have softened me up a bit. I will consider counsel. I enjoy giving advice, apparently--based on the evidence and my career--yet I don't like taking it. One advantage of learning hard lessons is that one really learns them. And over time, I have been thrashed into some really good habits because I was so freaking obtuse.  

So, I went to my dealer, Amazon Prime, and I ordered safe non-BPA plastic mouthpieces and a knock-off Water-Pik. Initial reports suggests that the mouthpiece (I have a back-up) has made a major difference. Let me provide a little more information. Several weeks ago, I was noticing that I was waking up with headaches. For over the last thirty years, headaches and left knee-aches have been persistent and chronic and a tag-team feeding off of each other in a closed loop. I have taken a "deal with it" attitude. I sought medical advice but have never been able to find a cure. But, the last decade of so, I have done a ton of research about chronic inflammation and have instituted a lot of interventions to help with it.

And it has really helped. I won't detail them here now but take my word, I have been vigilant. So, when I was waking up from headaches after sleeping, when I have been able to reduce them in general during waking hours, I thought it was odd. Then, I pieced together the wear-and-tear on my teeth and the once in a Blue Moon TMJ that I get, and figured that it was time to go all in on the mouthpiece and see if that would help. Rather than buy the $150 option from the dentist, I got two for $10.      

Let me say, it has been fairly miraculous. No headaches upon waking. Leave it up to me to make sleep a contact sport. Like rugby. And need a mouthpiece.      

My theory is that when I was younger, I found life to be really complicated. And I didn't get a lot of help figuring it out. So, I learned to distrust adults/others, as I made the assumption that they didn't really give a damn about me. I came to realize that people didn't hate me, I just wasn't even on their radar. And that was perhaps even more distressing. And it caused me to double-down and literally clench my teeth 24-7 to try an bear the pain, not unlike those biting down on bullets during amputations during the Revolutionary War. I clamped down and continued onward.  

I decided to go it alone. And life alone is hard. My education and reading though have provided to me a set of intellectual tools where I can discern credible information fairly well by spotting inconsistencies and faulty conclusions, even if I am not an expect in the field. So, I found a way to get wisdom without all of the messy interpersonal issues. 

Pre-internet, information was scarce but highly-curated (this was both good and bad). Now, information is a Niagara Falls thousands of gallons a minute, where unless one has well-developed thinking skills and established knowledge and understanding, it is likely that we will be overcome by the bullshit waterfalls and the barrel of one's brain will splinter. Social Media has given everyone a megaphone and even some people with a lot of followers are actually pretty poor in regards to content.

I will get back to you on the Water Pik knock-off. Not quite getting the consistent pay-off I was hoping for.