Thursday, August 14, 2008

Bad vibrations

I'm a big fan of live music and shows, when I'm feeling well enough to go, that is. Since my surgery, I've only had the chance to go to two performances (a burlesque show and an outdoor folk festival), and I'm beginning to see a pattern emerge that concerns me a little. It's only a hypothesis at this point, but I'm curious to know if anyone else has had a similar experience.

When I go to live shows, I carry a pair of ear plugs in my purse. That way, if the sound system is too loud, I can take the edge off instead of getting a nasty headache from the noise. (You know you're getting old when...)

Anyway, I had my earplugs at the ready but was surprised when it wasn't the noise that bothered me this time; it was the bass.

I was enjoying myself at first, but as each of the shows went on, it felt as though the vibrations of the heavy bass guitar were reverberating through the speakers and straight into my jaw. They then travelled up the sides of my face, causing me to get a splitting headache and leave early.

My hypothesis is that the heavy bass is vibrating the screws left in my jaw from the jaw surgery, which irritates the healing bone and gives me a headache. The area where the screws are located seems to be the focus of the initial discomfort, before it spreads into a full-blown headache.

Has anyone else experienced this? I wonder if it goes away once the bone is totally healed, or if this is what I can expect anytime I go to a show for the rest of my life?

I really hope not. Because earplugs are a simple solution to loud music that hurts your ears. But what's the solution to music that vibrates your jaw screws?

2 comments:

dsb said...

OMG, YES. I experienced this when I rode a roller coaster recently. I am nearing 5 months post-op (lefort 1), and about two weeks ago, during a corkscrew roller coaster, the front of my face started vibrating a little. I didn't really notice it until we got off the coaster, and it felt tingly for a while. Fortunately, it never developed into a full blown headache, but a few of the rides made me feel uncomfortable. It made me realize it wasn't the first time I could "feel" the screws inside my face. It's such an odd feeling, and it does make me feel vulnerable, sometimes. However - I do think it will go away...maybe a year from now or whenever, when everything is 100% healed, I will realize I haven't felt it in a long time!

holski said...

ew. I am not looking forward to that!

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