It felt like an electrical current sparked in my jaw. I imagined a hand yanking my chin and squeezing. Clenching.
Where did the pain come from? My bottom teeth started throbbing a few days ago, and I seriously contemplated slamming my face into the wall. I joked, saying it hurt so bad I just wanted to punch myself in the mouth…not really too funny I guess. It was throbbing yet sharpshooting. A tug along my bottom teeth.
I squeezed my hands, held my breath, bit my lip. Bring the pain somewhere else to numb the gnawing ache in my mouth. I’ve teased about having a low pain tolerance. One friend loves to taunt me by adding to my ice pack collection. But no ice pack would work for this. And the thought of ice anywhere near my mouth right now sends chills up my spine. I can’t. Please stop, I’ll never open my freezer again.
Sometimes more pain takes away another pain, right? That’s my thought with this awful toothache…which one little dentist trip told me I needed a root canal. Yay?
So temporary fixes tell me to make it worse, but just somewhere else. Real healing says to find the cause and fix it. I love a good allegory, and this wretched mouth disturbance delivered one on a filthy little platter.
We experience all sorts of pain in life and tend to reach for a hammer to shatter something else just to make it go away, all the while destroying more. Sinking deeper. More wounds, more scars…but hey, it eased that one hurt that one time.
So for now, I’ll refrain from driving my skull into concrete as I await my next dentist appointment. The one full of needles and drills and gross vacuum sounds. I’ll grit my teeth (ugh, too soon) and choose the healing process rather than the self-destruction. But, I can see why one wouldn’t.
*throwback photo to my little brat self 🙂
Leave a Reply