Saturday, June 7, 2014

How do I explain this...?

Do friends and family look at you like you're nuts, or delirious, perhaps a hypochondriac when you try to describe this injury? Frustrating, isn't it.

When you have pain that no one can see, you find yourself on the outside looking in a lot of the time. People just react to your complaints like you're batsh*t crazy. You can feel somewhat disconnected from "normal" people, who walk around seemingly without a care in the world, much less a constant, nagging burning, ache, throbbing, or sharp, stabbing neuropathic pain.

For many people on this blog, it's just an annoying numbness...I imagine it must be like that dead feeling in your mouth that turns to pins and needs when you leave the dentist, which typically fades after a few hours. Except it doesn't go away. Most seem to have the burning tongue in common,
Um, ok...
among a variety of other symptoms. How do you describe your tongue burning?
  • "It's like you've burnt your tongue on hot coffee. Every morning.
  • It's feels like you've scraped your tongue on the sidewalk, only there is no scrape mark there.
  • You know that moment you touch a hot stove, and you yank your hand back because it hurts... There's no evidence of a burn yet, but it stings. Imagine that my tongue just touched the stove. All the time. Every day. "

As for me, my tongue is hypersensitive to every sensation... I feel everything twice as much on the left side as on the right. This includes everything from spicy foods, to the natural curves of my teeth. I also get weird little headaches, sharp ear pain, and an achey throbbing in the teeth sometimes that feels like I spent too much time biting on a popsicle. The pain in my face feels like someone is pressing a knuckle into it. And it changes from day to day. A lot depends on weather, stress, sleep, and occasionally, I don't really know why it's hurting.

 How do you describe this to others, and what is their reaction? Reply in the comments.