cold burns as much as heat when you are numb

Hot compresses for the shoulders, and now cold compresses for the face. Actually, sounds like a day after a rough day at Kali! But it's not.

I got 4 teeth extracted for my future orthodontics work. And 10 hours after beginning the procedure, I'm still numb, a little bit, down in the chin. Though a tingling sensation is finally working its way through. The procedure tended to be a good thing as one of the teeth was already infected, a tooth I've had trouble with for some time. It would have eventually affected my sinuses as well. And in the long run if I don't have these things done now, 20 years from now I'll be looking at gum surgery, or even possible higher rates of heart disease and diabetes. The mouth, the feng shui door to your body.

A friend asked me if it would change the profile of my face. My orthodontist didn't think so, but I think it'll change alot more things in my life than my smile. It'll hopefully make it easier to maintain dental hygiene, and it has already change where my tongue lies in my mouth, as one of the teeth used to jut inward, I can already feel more room on one side. It may even change the way I talk, but I'm only guessing.

Since one of the roots of the teeth were really close to the sinuses, I'm not allowed to sneeze for the next 3 weeks. Good thing I don't have allergies and when I do sneeze I need to do so with my mouth open as to reduce the pressure in the holes in my head.

A bonus for today is that I have no neck pain or stiffness today (though that could simply be the tylenol talking). I have another acupuncture appointment tomorrow afternoon. She mentioned that I would feel good for a few days after the treatment, but that there tends to be relapse several days later.

Along with removing overcrowding and blockages in my body, I've been working on clearing overcrowding and blockages outside of my body as well, which includes using the new appliance more often. Things often go hand in hand that way.

I'm also back to a liquid diet for a couple of days. Downing Ensure in it's various flavors. But I am allowed to drink milkshakes and eat ice cream but am not allowed to drink through a straw.

The braces will come on in a couple more weeks after I let my body heal from all this trauma I've brought it.

[It seems like I've been blogging alot on this topic. I actually have been writing about other topics, more specifically about what it means to be a man and how this relates to the Virginia Tech shooting, but more often than not, the blogger interface would lock up just before I posted or just as I click publish. I'll take that as a sign that those words aren't ready for public consumption yet.]