Hi, i'm new to this board. :)
brief intro: i'm 25, live in los angeles, recently graduated from ucla and studying for the mcat (i wanna be a doctor!), and... I'm in pain!! :(
so... Lately, i've had noticable throat pain, like in the region right below the jaw, and down each side on the front of my neck localized mostly to the left side though. Having gerd (acid reflux disease), it is sometimes difficult to differentiate the pain caused by that condition and this other pain of unknown origin. I've come to think that it may be tmjd, just because of the presentation. The jaw itself does hurt, inner ears a little uncomfortable and sometimes painful, the feeling of discomfort in the throat extends to my chin (like right under the soft tissue), and sometimes even the teeth themselves hurt. So this is probably the result of a bruxism or something I guess. But I am just curious if my braces could have anything to do with this? I've had them on for a year but the tmj-like pain just started recently, though I have made the mistake of letting the teeth shift a bit more due to not wearing my rubberbands when I was sick over the last two weeks (used for pulling the teeth more close together).
Just wondering what you think about this presentation. I've been pretty paranoid since i've had a lot of health trouble in the past 5 years (lost my thyroid at 20, cause unknown) and lately i've had a lot of trouble too (mostly due to ibs, reflux, and a large ovarian cyst) so I basically feel like i'm falling apart and just waiting to be diagnosed with cancer or something.
Any thoughts, advice, suggestions or info would be awesome.
Thanks!