TMJ

Ever since she has been little, my mom has been able to pop and crack her jaw. She also used to grind her teeth and get headaches because of it. She would have a lot of jaw pain, but she finally asked her dentist about it last year. He told her that she has a TMJ disorder and that she needs to wear a special mouth guard to help fix the problem. She is supposed to where it all the time, do mouth exercises, and not chew gum unless she feels like dealing with a major headache. Sounds like fun, huh?!

Well ever since I was a kid, I had been able to chew the same piece of gum all day...we're talking at least 12 hours of chewin. I would take it out to eat and then pop it right back in (gross, I know). But I have not been able to do this the past few months. My jaw gets tired after 20 minutes of chewing gum...and I hate it! I love chewing things and gum has always helped with whatever diet I was on. But now I can't chew it without pain (plus, my jaw loves to pop just as my mom's does)! So I'm thinking I have a TMJ disorder as well.

Ahhhh, like mother, like daughter!