Dealing With Headaches

I first heard about ear candling through James’ Headache & Migraine News Blog. I thought he was joking. You know , in the same way the some people consider NASCAR a sport and Paris Hilton a celebrity. Sooner or later, someone is going to pop out and say, “Decades-long-April Fool! Ha!” Then, my life would make that much more sense.

Welcome to the Real World

Unfortunately, James wasn’t kidding and my own Dad became a NASCAR fan. Although I have had to bitterly accept the latter, part of me still holds out hope that ear-candling is the world’s biggest online hoax. However, I had a client ask me if I was intersted in writing a series of How To articles on ear candling to treat vertigo and sinus headaches. I had to say no, but was astounded that the request was serious.

I’m Not Against CAM Therapies, But

I do happen to be proponent of complimentary and alternative therapies, especailly those I have tried myself. However, I can’t get behind ear candling. Now, how do you tell if a CAM therapy is probably a bunch of crap and better left alone?

• You stick something inside of your body and then SET IT ON FIRE
• You are given a scare tactic that you have poisons inside of your body that need to come out. Unless you just chugged cobra venom, you really don’t have much to worry about. These poisions are usually just called “toxins” and are rarely, if ever, given specific names.
• You’re told it’s a Native American tradition and all the Native Americans you know are asked about ear candling, reply with, “Say WHAT?”
• You stick something inside of your body and then SET IT ON FIRE. I realized I’ve repeated myself there, but it can’t be stressed enough — fire and your body do not mix.

Hope this helps.

This month’s Blog Carnival is hosted by The Migraine Girl. It’s topic is “Vacations & Migraines”. Of course, with skyrocketing food and fuel prices, you’ll probably won’t have a vacation this year, but you can still use this advice for any other trips or for general day-to-day use. And, of course, there’s always good reading.

The Highlights

These highlights are picked by me in a manner based on my tastes. This doesn’t imply that my tastes are better than your writing. If I have not mentioned your Headache Blog Carnival post, no offence is intended.

• Let’s start off with the Migraine Girl herself and her post How to Survive a Vacation Tip #1: Don’t Trust the Website. My tip is this: how long do you plan on being in the hotel room? Plot accordingly.
• Down the Rabbit Hole gives a practical and encouraging list of things migraineurs and anyone else with chronic pain needs to be aware of before they head out for misadventure.
• I’ll admit it — I’ve chosen this one as a highlight just for the title: 90 Days of Narcotis: How To Best Use the New Drug Laws. This is a good overview of some changes made in AMerican law in February.
• I’m also picking Power of Pearl not because I beleive that a string of pearls is better for a headache than Excedrin and a lie-down, but because I really dig folklore and legends. Also, as a Pagan, I’m always on the lookout for tips on creystal healing. Yes, I know pearls are technically not crystals, but we needed a short label and “crystals” was chosen for some reason. I wasn’t invited to the convention, nor did I vote for the Superdelegates that went.

None from me this month, as I was in too much pain and missed the deadline.

Next Month

Good topic next month — “How Spirituality Helps Us Cope with Chronic Pain.” The due date for sumbissions is Friday, 11 July. The carnival is going back to regular host Diana Lee at Somebody Heal Me. Remember, your blog doesn’t have to be centered on migraines or headaches in order for your submission to be considered. You don’t get any money, but it’s great publicity and great reading.

Actually, the NHF’s YouTube channel went up late last month and I’ve only just discovered it now. What can I tell you? I get headaches. They eat up your time researching for blog posts and goofing around on YouTube. The National Headache Foundation wanted to be sure there were some videos available in time for this week, National Headache Awareness Week.

There are only eight videos up as of this writing, but they do give some good general information geared at people who DON’T get chronic headaches. At least, this is my impression. For example, the “Headache Overview” film (seen below) mentions that most people get at least one headache during the course of their lives. I think those of us who get chronic headaches already figured that out. But there is a lot of ignorance and intolerance about migraines and chronic headaches by those who don’t suffer from them, so any easily digestible information is welcomed by me.

So, celebrate National Headache Week by taking in the National Headache Foundation’s YouTube channel. It’s yet another good excuse to devote precious hours of your mortal life at YouTube.

(And try to ignore the background music sounding alarmingly like an eighties soft-core porn film’s soundtrack. Not that I would know.)

I hate horse racing because I love horses. I used to be the nation’s biggest horse racing fan — I could quote stats and bloodlines in my sleep. And then I saw too many horses die needlessly, so I’m now sickened by the whole thing. This is the weekend that twenty years ago I longed for in the way a five year old longs for Christmas. It’s the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, the annual parade of lambs to the slaughter.

My relationship with horse racing was committed, but horse racing cheated on me and I still sting from the betrayal. So the time of the year I used to look so happily upon is now my most dreaded weekend of the year. Perhaps there is a day in yor life which is the anniversary of something you dread to recall –the death of a friend, the wedding day of a disasterous marriage, or Black Friday.

In other words, I have a dreadful headache and it’s all my fault.

Stress And Sinuses

It’s probably no coincidence that I’ve been having such incredibly bad sinus and headache problems this week, as well as a lot of nausea. The pollen level has been incredibly high around the greater Philadelphia area (where I live), buit I have never had trouble with seasonal allergies until the last couple of years. If I follow the pattern of the last couple of years, the allergy symptoms will suddenly decrease sharply after the Triple Crown is over and done with on the first Saturday in June.

I know I should get over it. Hell, I’ve gotten over breaking up with my ex-es better than I’ve been handling my break up with horse racing. But knowing it and doing it are two differnt things.

I’m hoping that by naming my demon (by owning up to being stupid enough to be a horse racing fan for so many years and then getting sick every first week in May ever since), I can look back at what I’ve written, laugh at it and the pain will go away.

After Reading What I’ve Written So Far

Nope. Pain still is with me. I think my best bet is to get as numb as I possibly can this weekend.

I’m going to apologize in advance for any sloppy appeareance or any disjointed reasoning in this blog post (well, more disjointed than usual, anyway). I was up to three m last night with a killer of a headache in the front of the right side of my face. I assumed it was a regular sinus headache, as my nose had been dripping all day. So I took over the counter Rite Aid sinus medication. Not a lot happened, except I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t get much sleep.

It felt like the day after you get punched in the eye. (And I have been punched in the eye before, so unfortunately my basis of comparison is accurrate).

Mom to the Rescue

Mom and I have to vote today (PA primaries — ugh) and so I have to leave the house eventually to do my civic duty. Mom had allergy medication — not sinus medication , one specifically for allergies — and urged me to take a pill. (I’d like to tell you the name of the stuff, but there is no name on the prescription label except PSE 120/MSC 2.5). I ran it through Drugs.com, but they said it’s probably a generic not in their directory.)

In less than an hour, about 90% of the pain was gone. This leads me to assume that my current head misery is caused by allergies and not sinuses.

But aren’t they the same thing? I mean, if you have allergies, doesn’t that mean you will automatically have sinus problems? And perhaps I shouldn’t be taking this stuff even though it works because I can’t identify it?

Yup

Basically, a sinus headache and an allergy headache are the same thing. However, if you can cure the pain with sinus medication, it’s a sinus headache and if you can cure it with your Mom’s allergy medication, then it’s an allergy headache.

Now, some doctors or nuerologists define an allergy headache as a reaction to a food you are allergic to. If you don’t have the post nasal drip, sore throat, stuffy nose or nausea, itchy eyes or sore eyes, than it’s probably a food allergy headache. You really need to see a doctor about that.

I’m not sure what I’m allergic to. I have all of the signs of a sinus infection, yet the sinus medication did zip on my pain.

I know I’m allergic to mowed lawns. When I lived in England, I lived mostly in the woods where the grass, nettles, snapdragons and other greenery grew to well over six feet tall. I never had any allergy problems. Now, I return to America with it’s constantly mowed lawns and my face feels like it’s been on the recieving end of a phone pole.

Oh, time to go vote. I have to go now so in the future people can blame me for the choice of Democratic presidential canidate for 2008. Can’t let all of you down.

I’ve never been a big fan of botox (”Don’t Believe the Botox Hype”.) The “bo” part of the name stands for botulinium toxin A. That means it’s in the botulism family. I’m an even less of a fan of botulism. Why would you risk sticking botulism in your face? Hey, I’ve never understood why “American Idol” is so popular, and that’s popular, too. Besides smoothing out your face, botox was rumored in to help relieve chronic headaches (it doesn’t).

So, as a reminder — botox will not relieve your chronic headache or migraine. And, a recently released study shows that botox can sink into your brain.

As another reminder, your brain doesn’t need smoothing out. It really needs all of those wrinkles.

What About This New Study?

Sadly, the study was done on rats instead of people. I’ve never been bitten by a rat, but I have been bitten by people, so I am admittedly predjudiced about being pro-rat. They were botox injections into the whisker area (that’s gotta hurt!) Thtree days later, the rats were killed and their brains opened up, which showed traces of the botox in the brain tissue and brain stem (which makes you wonder what these scientists do for fun.)

This is a preliminary study, so nothing’s conclusive (except if you’re a rat in a medical lab, you’re screwed). There is a call for similar studies to be done on monkeys (oh, joy.)

Wouldn’t it be easier to not just the damn botox in the first place?

Substitutions for Experimental Animals

Personally, I think we should stop all animal experimnentation. It’s expensive, it’s cruel and often doesn’t relate to what human bodies go through. What about all these criminals sitting on death row? What about that guy sitting for life at our expense who claimed to have something to do with 9/11? I say botox HIS whisker area and then dissect his brain three days later. We have all these prisoners who hate themselves and are a drain on society. Bu giving them a chance at medical becoming human lab rats, then they can feel that they are doing something quasi-heroic.

Surprisingly, I get a lot of strange looks when I bring this subject up.

But seriously, we could also do computer models and in vitro (in test tube) experiments instead of ripping open animals by the millions.

Remember — botox = death.

On that happy note, have a great weekend.

This might seem like a no-brainer to most of you, but I sure forgot how powerful a strong odor is on the head pain factory. Yesterday was the usual rite of spring for me — having to give my dog a bath because she rolled in fox poo. Ah, spring — when a young dog’s fancy turns to fox poo. And in case you haven’t been exposed to the joys of fox poo, let me tell you about it.

It smells like skunk.

However, unlike skunk, fox stink can be easily cleaned off a dog with water and puppy shampoo. And boy, did I get a headache — and not just because my sixty pound dog hates baths. The smell triggered a headache (just aheadache — not one of my migraines, thankfully).

Fragrance Overload

It’s not just ANY strong smell that can trigger a headache (very few people get headaches at bakeries) but really overwheming, knock-you-sideways smells. These can include:

• tobacco smoke (certain brands of cigarettes more than others, depending on your nose)
• fresh paint
• perfume or cologne
• pesticides
• nail polish remover
• turpentine or other paint thinners
• certain aromatherapy oils (depending on your nose’s preference)
• moth balls
• automotive fluids, even gasoline
• bleach and other eye-watering cleaners
• fox poop

The Good News

Although some of these smells are not avoidable, you do have the advantage of knowing that the pain will end as soon as you remove yourself from the source of the odor. If you do know in advance that a certain strong smell can trigger an annoying headache, then you can take medication beforehand. It’s not entirely certain why the some smells trigger headaches more than others in individuals, it most likely has to do with the smell causing the body to tense up.

When you are painting, (whether artistically or for home improvement) you need to be sure your working area is well ventilated, which helps cut down on the smells a bit.

And try your best not to let your dog roll in fox poop.

A little while back, I wrote about what I called computer headaches – headaches you get when working on the computer for hours at a time. I just made the name up — seemed a logical name to me. Apparently not.

It’s now officially called Computer Vision Syndrome (or CVS — I bet one American drugstore chain is smiling at the free promotion there). Doctors (ususally eye doctors or opthamologists) are saying they hear more and more of their patients complaining about CVS — the syndrome, not the drugstore chain.

Whee

Although just naming a particular physical complaint may not sound like much, in some ways it actually is a big deal. Getting an official medical name means:

• You are not the only person in the world that has it
• Your doctor will be more inclined to believe you
• Drug companies take notice and start to research expensive drugs for this particular complaint

And bloggers get yet another topic to write about.

Symptoms

Pain usually starts in the eyes, but not always. If you feel a headache coming on (pressure all over the top of your head, for instance), then take a painkiller as soon as you can. Also, look away from the computer screeen for a few minutes. This might help to abort a really painful bout of CVS.

But usually, pain starts in the eye or eyes. For me, pain tends to be in my right eye, but that may be because I’m prone to migraines. For those not prone to migraines or chronic headaches, your eyes will begin to feel like this:

• Hot to burning
• Gritty, as if something is in it all of the time
• Very dry, making even blinking uncomfortable
• Extrememly sore
• Blurred vision
• Double vision

Longterm Treatment

People with dry eyes (for whatever reason) are going to be more prone to CVS. You need to work on that problem as well as taking whatever painkiller that works best for your headaches. Ice packs also help relieve eye-centered pain, but you might not be able to use them at work. You need lubricating eye drops to help keep your eyes from burning. If you have allergy problems, you need to find out if your eyes are affected by allergies and get treatment for the allergies.

You also need to remember to look away from your computer screen every ten or fifteeen minutes just to give your eyes a break.

Are there any glare spots on your computer screen? They can certainly cause computer headache or CVS. You can tile your computer screen or try adjusting your light source to remove the glarte spots. In my home office, I’ve had no choice but to keep the window shades pulled and keep the overhead light on every single time I’m on the computer. It certainly made a diference in the time I could spend comfortably on the computer (although I don’t think Al Gore will be too happy with me.)

There are also color-tinted sunglasses available to help filter out any really glaring light and help make the word a little softer on the eyes. You need to be a patient patient, but computer headache or CVS is one of the more easily treatable headaches you can get.

Hope this helps.

Last week, I was clobbered by the Mother of all Sinus Headaches (no offence to any mothers out there). Today, I have only my normal aches and pains but not the sinus headache. Life is so much better in comparison. Keep in mind that I am NOT a doctor or nurse, so please don’t take my little blog posts as seriously as you would take a qualified medical practitioner’s….or posts by Gillian, author of Food History, who helped me with sound advice on this Mother of all Sinus Headaches.

How Do You Know It’s A Sinus Headache?

There are so many different reasons why you have a headache, that you can be forgiven getting another headache trying to determine what is wrong with you. If you are not sure why you have a headache and it doesn’t go away for a couple of days and doesn’t respond to over the counter medicine, call your doctor.

But, there are some cases where you can pretty much assume you have a sinus headache when it is accompanied by other signs like:

• nasal congestion
• sore throat, whether you are coughing up mucus or not
• runny or stuffy nose
• mild nausea because of the muscus dripping down the back of your throat
• body aches that you would get with a cold
• fatigue (more than you ususally have)

Pain In The Head

The actual pain you feel in your head with a sinus headache can vary from person to person. However, unlike a migraine, the pain is usually on both sides of your head and not just on one side. The pain is ususally constant and not throbbing, pulsing or piercing. You often have the sensation that your head has suddenly balloned in size, even when a glance in the mirror tells you that your head has not expanded. Pain is also centered in the eyebrows, cheeks and forehead.

Treatment

Here’s the comment from Gillian that helped me. May it help you.

Try a saline solution for a day then try taking ibuprofen (not for its pain relief as much as for its anti-inflammatory properties). They don’t help immediately, but they do bring down the congestion and side effects. Sometimes a light antihistamine also helps.

Now, to be fair to Gillian, I never got around to using the saline solution. What I did instead was have a steaming bowl of lentil-turkey soup (apologies to any vegetarians reading) that my Mom made. I get the sniffles, Mom makes soup. I’m not sure if she puts any Mom magic in it that can help with sinus headaches, because she’s not saying. Otherwise, I switched from Excedrin as painkiller to ibuprofen and an over the counter store brand antihistamine.

Taking a hot bath also helped to drain my sinuses. You can make a bowl of steaming hot water and lean over it for a few minutes, but have someone check up on you because you may faint. You can drape a towel over your head to intensify the personal head sauna experience.

Hope this helps. Thanks again, Gillian.

Stick with me on this. There is a point in here somewhere about how my past life as a hamster might help with my current headche. At least, that’s the point I’m trying to get across. How I’ll succeed is anybody’s guess.

I’ve had a headache of varying intensity for about three days. It’s not a migraine, because it’s not just on wone side of my head. I’m manifesting other signs of upper respiratory infection, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say I have a sinus headache. Currently, I’ve been dropped by Medicaid and can’t afford to go to a doctor in order to find out for sure.

At this point, I’m getting a little desperate. Over the counter medication isn’t helping, herbal tea isn’t helping, extra Vitamin C isn’t helping — I’m willing to try anything legal now.

Which brings us to the concept of past life regeneration therapy.

Hello, Slyvia Browne

Yes, I read the occassional Slyvia Browne book because there’s just something about them that really helps me feel relaxed and optimistic. I don’t agreee with everything she writes about, but for me, that’s not the point — I’m less depressed AFTER I read her than before, and sometimes that makes all of the difference.

In past life therapy, you figure out what the trauma in your past life was to give you the present pain. This only works for chronic pain hard to diagnose, apparently. If you currentl have a headache because you got hit in the head with a frying pan, then you don’t need to bother with this. You already know why you have a headache — unless you can’t remember getting hit in the head with a frying pan, in which case you better get to the emergency room … if you still remember what an emergency room is.

Anyway

So, I was a hamster in my previous life. It seems obvious to me. I spent a lot of time running on that little wheel. I also spent a lot of time stuffing my cheeks with really hard to chew food. Perhaps gnawing on a rock-hard seed gave me a tension headache which has somehow manifested in a past life.

There. Now that I’ve identified my problem, I can tell my subconscious and my cell memory that the problem my hamster self faced is no longer applicable to my current life. Let it go, baby.

So far, this approach is not working. But at least I managed to have a laugh looking at hamster movies. And I know who to blame in my past for my present headache.

And not necessarily in that order. Well, if a title like “Sex, Orgams, Headaches” doesn’t get this blogpost high on Google’s PageRank, I’m not sure what else will (that I can ethically try).

Annyway, let’s get it on with the details, shall we?

In yet another proof that love stinks, some people can get one of two types of headaches directly as a result of sex with or without orgasms (apparantly, with good sex, then, as oppossed to some anatomical gymnastics in the throes of passion that resulted in falling out of the bedroom window).

Coital Cephalagia

Ooo, doesn’t that sound like it can put you in the mood? But seriously, what happens here is that you get a terrible headache in the body’s build-up to orgasm. This is a variation of what is called an exertional headache, where you basically get a headache whenever you do some strenuous exercise. You could try taking a painkiller before you engage in the desired activity.

But if that doesn’t work, you really should see your doctor. Although coital cephalagia is usually not a sign of a more serious condition, it sure can affect the quality of your life.

BUT if you get these symptoms along with your sex, orgams and headaches, then you better call your doctor immediately:

• Very stiff neck
• Nausea and/ or vomiting
• Going unconscious (not just falling asleep. You better let your partner be aware of this so he/she can call 911 in case you black out, since you obviously can’t).
• If the headache lasts anywhere from 5 minutes to 24 hours.

Orgasmic Cephalagia

This kind of sex, orgams, headache domino effect happens to men more than women. This is a powerful headache usually felt around the eyes that happens immediately before orgasm, no matter how athletic the sexual activity was. It is thought that this might be an indication that you have high blood pressure or that your body may react very negativly to a certain spike in your blood pressure.

This is also considered a benign headache that tends to go away quickly on it’s own (like most of my boyfriends). However, the same cautions apply to this headache as to coital cephalagia.

I’m so glad I’m single.

Is there any topic more appropriate on a migraine blog than love? Love and migraines just seem to go together “like a horse and carriage” (as the old song goes). However, those with migraines just can’t seem to help getting involved with other people, having kids, needing to go to work, that kind of painfully inconvienient stuff.

Diana Lee once again helps out those headache prone and migraineurs who have to deal with other people by offering her third edition of the Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival. This month, the theme is (mainly) “love & romance with migraines.” That doesn’t mean you court your migraines (”I’m in love with my migraines!”), but are in relationships with other people while you also happen to have migraines.

Highlights

Although all of the entries in this blog carnival is worth your valuable time, here are the ones that particularly caught my interest:

• The Migraine Girl’s “Single Migraineur Finds Her Match“. Although the match is new, it’s still a rather hopeful article even for the most jaded of us.
• Headache Advisor’s “Valentine Headaches” is a short and sweet article on maintaining relationships when you have chronic pain.
• James from Headache and Migraine News Blog offers up “9 Aphrodisiacs for the Romantic with Migraine”. None of these suggestions are for really rare or hard to get items. And most of them are delicious. So, worse comes to worse, forget the date and just tuck in to the food.
• Oh, yeah, and one from me about the consequences of Valentine’s night.

  Next Month

  Diana is bravely carrying on hosting these blog carnivals. Next Month’s topic is “Maintianing friendships when you have migraines and headaches.” Submissions are due Friday, March 7th. You need to have a blog in order to submit and have the post be about living with massive massive head pains or chronic pains.

I am letting a not-so secret secret come out of the closet — I am a Cute With Chris fan. This is an internet series where one guy, Chris Leavins, posts pictures of cute pets and does wry commentary. His co-host is a Breyer Proud Arabian Foal name Colty. Lasers come out of guinea pig’s eyes. You have to see it to believe it.

Anyway, after a year or more of doing the shows online, a viewer named Rhonda sent him a letter taunting him and saying his show was “charming, but very amatuer[sic]” and that if she did an internet show, she would not be taken seriously as a stage actor.

Chris’ response was to to a show on stage in the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood. He got it together in 18 days due to his rage at Rhonda.

Meanwhile, I and about 42 million other people online are following all of this closely, especially since Chris promised to put up some footage from the actual live show that only 98 lucky CWC fans got to see. I was promised to go up yesterday. I haven’t looked forweard to something so much since the last Peter Gabriel album was released.

There were so many questions to be answered. Would the free pens arrive? Would Rhonda show up? Would she survive if she did? Would Chris throw up on stage? Would there be dancing? And what about the crucial advice he gives to teen letters?

And, of course, as yesterday dawned, I got a migraine.

What Did I Do?

When you have a migraine, going on the computer and checking a website 147 times a day is not exactly a treatment that King Solomon would recommend.

The pain was paid enough so that I had trouble standing up by myself, but could sit without pitching over to one side or another. Now, if this was anybody else experinecing a migraine, I’d counsel them to forget about some Internet comedy show and just lie down.

However, this was me and the show was Cute With Chris. In waiting for the show to load onto YouTube and then his website, I even managed to get a post up yesterday about an FDA warning on anti-seizure medications, including Topamax.

Being busy did help distract me from the pain.

So finally, about 7:30 pm, some other CWC fan realises that Chris has logged onto YouTube. This means he’s loading the longed for CWC LIVE video on! The comments on the site went flying. People were writhing in agony from all parts of the globe hoping to watch this video. I was laughing so hard, I couldn’t sit up straight because of the pain.

And finally, I got to see it.

Again, I do not really recommend laughing hysterically as a migraine treatment, but when CWC posts a new episode, I had to weigh the pain options. On the one hand, continually watching the computer aggravated my migraine. On the other hand, if I went to bed without seeing the new episode, that would be torment as oppossed to merely painful.

Yes, it was worth the pain.

But don’t you do that to me, again, Chris (Milord!)

Last time I mentioned dentalwork headaches, I also mentioned that I had about two weeks before my dreaded dental appointment.

Didn’t work out that way.

A few hours after that post, the pain came back so bad, I thought my face was having labor contractions. And, that being Thursday, I of course could not get an appointment to see the dentist until Monday. His office put me on antibiotics and acetominophen for the pain.

And so I only had the weekend to stew. The tension of wondering how much it would hurt and how much it would cost gave me a dentalwork headache.

Today’s Dental Trip

My goodness — I made it to the dentist’s chair and back still alive. Turns out the labor contractions in my face was an abscess. So, I had my first (and hopefully last) root canal. And you know what? It wasn’t as bad as my family told me it would be. Yes, it was bad, but I’ve had worse.

I took Excedrin before the dentist appointment, to help counteract the splitting headache I usually get after my skull has vibrated a while because of the drill…and because of the panic I put myself through. Constant fear can greatly magnify any pain, including headaches…and toothaches.

In oder to deal with the panic and dentalwork headache (which is really a tension headache with the word “dentist” as a trigger), I did a few things:

• My Mom drove me there and back. That was one less thing to worry about.
• This time, I actually turned around to look at all of the instruments laid out on my dentist’s tray. Usually, I just scrunch my eyes shut and grip the armrests throught the entire visit. Being able to see the small size of the hooks, scrapers and the needle helped, oddly enough. I guess these torture chamber instruments didn’t quite live up to my imagination.
• I periodically made myself breathe deeply. This helped to relax some bodily tension, which contributes to headaches.

Dentalwork headaches are a symptom of dental phobia. In order to help ease the dentalwork headache, I had to work on my dental phobia. And now I’ve faced the fire-breathing dragon called Going To The Dentist and he didn’t even singe my eyebrows.

Until I got the bill, anyway. Ouch! Still, it was cheaper paying for work now than if I delayed until the whole tooth decayed (not just the nerve) and needed a crown (which averages about $1500 where I live).

Hope this helps others who get dentalwork headaches because of dental phobia.

I think I’m writing this blog post. I’m not entirely sure. I’ve been up with upper jaw pain for hours and hours. Thankfully, because I researched and wrote this post, I was able to realize it was just clogged sinuses and not a toothache. I treated the pain with an over the counter sinus pill and putting a heat pad on my sore jaw. The jaw pain is much better now, but somehow (perhaps because of my lack of sleep) my Mom talked me into making an appointment with my dentist…who I haven’t seen for about a year and a half. Now I have a dentalwork headache.

Definition Redux

For me, a dentalwork headache is the headache you get whenever you think about going to the dentist. You can also get a dentalwork headache in the actual chair from the vibrations of the DRILL IN YOUR HEAD.

Can you tell I have a major phobia of dentists and doctors?

I know they are not out to get me (well, only about three or four of them are) and they can actually help me to feel better and to prevent illnesses and painful conditions, but I keep shaking at the thought of:

• The DRILL IN MY HEAD (even if I’m going to a doctor and not a dentist — I still think all doctors have a drill in their back pockets somewhere)
• The cost (perhaps I’m better off with the physical pain instead of the financial one?)
• The usual comments about my life expectancy — or lack thereof. I’m not sure why most of the doctors and specialists I’ve encountered like to inform me about when they think I’m going to die. Perhaps it’s like a carnival game to doctors. Or perhaps they really have a secret dream to work the “Guess Your Weight” booth at the state fair. Apparantly, I was suppossed to die three years ago. I’m not sure I should feel lucky or really annoyed.

My Headache Is In My Head?

Perhaps my extreme fear of dentists (or more precisely, their instruments of torture, such as the bill) is what is causing this visitation of the dentalwork headache. When anyone says the word “dentist”, my jaw clenches and I hold my breath. It’s instinctive. And worry can surely intensify any headache.

But I have to go to the darn dentist now — I made an appointment. It’s at the end of the month, so I have about two weeks to stew. Hopefully, I can come up with a plan to deal with my dentist phobia. Perhaps I could figure out how to overcome it so I can spread the information with the entire blogosphere, helping others overcome their fear of medical personnel (and medical bills) to get the help they need to lead less painful lives.

But I have a feeling I’ll just wind up being a weeping wreck like I was the last time I went to the dentist. At least my Mommy will be with me. I think I’ll bring a teddy bear, too. I’m sure the dentist won’t be shocked by seeing a 38 year old woman clutching her Mommy with one hand and a teddy bear in the other.

I am doomed…