Yesterday was the one week mark after my septoplasty. It also marked the first day without any tylenol or pain medicine and the first day that I felt I could breathe fairly clear all day and night with minimal issues. This is not a bad thing, this is a good thing. Only one week after the operation, and I am definitely feeling that it was a success.
Several interesting things have come out of this whole awareness about my deviated septum. Years of living with many issues, just became a habit, a normal way of life for me. Even as a yoga teacher, who you would think would be more self aware (insert laughter track here), the observations and connections have been life-changing.
For as long as I can remember of my adult life, I have clenched my jaw tightly at night. At one point, I had TMJ and my jaw would lock shut. That was a little scary. When I started to learn about yoga, I learned to relax more and the TMJ went away. However, the jaw clenching at night never stopped. My dentist advised a bite-guard to wear at night, which I paid for out of pocket as I have no dental insurance. It doesn't fit right and has been modified twice, and just doesn't fit into my mouth so I do not wear it. By the way, the little gem cost me $500. Flash forward nearly 10 years later and to a new dentist, who's chair I sat in the day before my septoplasty operation. He asked if I was wearing my bite guard at night, to which I answered spontaneously, "No, but tomorrow I have surgery to correct my deviated septum and I think that after that I may not need it." I honestly had never thought about it before that. He responded, "Yes, often people clench down at night when they are struggling to breath." Why had this not come up before? How had I come up with it then? Mysteries of the Universe aside, guess what?
It worked! I do not clench my jaw anymore at night. Hallelujah!
For the past week, I have not clenched down on my jaw at night. I can feel the dramatic influx of air through my left nostril that it almost feels like extreme breathing at night when I am lying down relaxed. Now when I awake, my jaw and neck are not tight. I have noticed the difference throughout my body as well, less tension on a whole from a better night sleep now that my body is receiving more oxygen.
I have noticed a greater sense of being awake in the morning as well. It doesn't seem to take me as long to truly "wake up." And I also appear to be needing a little less sleep at night than I used to. Wonderful, as this additional time I've acquired gives me more waking hours. I've decided to use them towards reading (This week I read two books and started a third).
I was wondering if the tension was also related to renewed issues with my vision and a need for progressive lenses. While the lenses still seem to be needed (damn aging process), I find that I do not need the glasses as much for everyday things, and do not feel an overtaxing on my eyes as before. So while my vision seems to be the same, the tension that I may have also attributed to my eyes, may have actually been connected to the breath as well.
The other benefit to this surgery was to be the release of fluid pooling in my right ear, causing painful decants when flying due to the inability to properly pressurize. I will know for sure in July when we go on our family vacation and I fly for the first time. I have felt some fluid popping in my ear this past week, but that is usual for me. In the past few days since I have felt mostly clear, however, I have not heard any popping. A visit to the doctor today for a check-up should confirm any fluid in the ear.
My yoga practice has not yet resumed in full. I feel generally bloated, but not as stiff as I would normally without a week or practice. I am looking forward to the full blessings of the doctor today to resume as well as I am interested to see how the increased volume of airflow changes my yogic breathing and hence overall sensation of the yoga practice.
You know, everything is connected. Connective tissue supports and binds all the different types of tissue and organs together in the body. So if there is a lack of flexibility in one area, it will affect the other. A clenched jaw can create a lot of tension that will obviously affect other areas of the body. Of course I knew this, however, the source of the jaw clenching has just been revealed to me. Who knew it was as simple as trying to breath? I've been pouring over my 5th Chakra for years trying to figure out why it is blocked!
I hope that this blog is helping anyone else who may have similar issues. At least to go to the doctor and inquire further. Perhaps there is a simple procedure that can fix things for you too, but you are just not connecting the dots. The eyes, ears, nose and mouth are pretty close together. Anything that is occurring in any one of them could very well be causing issues in other areas. In yoga, everything starts with the breath. It is where we become still, relax and know our truth. Breath reveals everything, and yet, some things remain hidden to our limited understanding of the mind, masked by the distractions of referred pains and other symptoms.
So, Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's off to the doctor I go. Let's see what he has to say about my progress.
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Doctor's Visit:
Doctor said my operation could not have gone any better. He was very pleased with the operation and my progress. He answered the few questions that I had and asked me to just call him in two weeks to let me know how I was doing. He said I didn't need a follow-up visit, but he just wanted to know that everything was okay. I really like this doctor!
*********************************************************************************
To Be Continued...
Several interesting things have come out of this whole awareness about my deviated septum. Years of living with many issues, just became a habit, a normal way of life for me. Even as a yoga teacher, who you would think would be more self aware (insert laughter track here), the observations and connections have been life-changing.
For as long as I can remember of my adult life, I have clenched my jaw tightly at night. At one point, I had TMJ and my jaw would lock shut. That was a little scary. When I started to learn about yoga, I learned to relax more and the TMJ went away. However, the jaw clenching at night never stopped. My dentist advised a bite-guard to wear at night, which I paid for out of pocket as I have no dental insurance. It doesn't fit right and has been modified twice, and just doesn't fit into my mouth so I do not wear it. By the way, the little gem cost me $500. Flash forward nearly 10 years later and to a new dentist, who's chair I sat in the day before my septoplasty operation. He asked if I was wearing my bite guard at night, to which I answered spontaneously, "No, but tomorrow I have surgery to correct my deviated septum and I think that after that I may not need it." I honestly had never thought about it before that. He responded, "Yes, often people clench down at night when they are struggling to breath." Why had this not come up before? How had I come up with it then? Mysteries of the Universe aside, guess what?
It worked! I do not clench my jaw anymore at night. Hallelujah!
For the past week, I have not clenched down on my jaw at night. I can feel the dramatic influx of air through my left nostril that it almost feels like extreme breathing at night when I am lying down relaxed. Now when I awake, my jaw and neck are not tight. I have noticed the difference throughout my body as well, less tension on a whole from a better night sleep now that my body is receiving more oxygen.
I have noticed a greater sense of being awake in the morning as well. It doesn't seem to take me as long to truly "wake up." And I also appear to be needing a little less sleep at night than I used to. Wonderful, as this additional time I've acquired gives me more waking hours. I've decided to use them towards reading (This week I read two books and started a third).
I was wondering if the tension was also related to renewed issues with my vision and a need for progressive lenses. While the lenses still seem to be needed (damn aging process), I find that I do not need the glasses as much for everyday things, and do not feel an overtaxing on my eyes as before. So while my vision seems to be the same, the tension that I may have also attributed to my eyes, may have actually been connected to the breath as well.
The other benefit to this surgery was to be the release of fluid pooling in my right ear, causing painful decants when flying due to the inability to properly pressurize. I will know for sure in July when we go on our family vacation and I fly for the first time. I have felt some fluid popping in my ear this past week, but that is usual for me. In the past few days since I have felt mostly clear, however, I have not heard any popping. A visit to the doctor today for a check-up should confirm any fluid in the ear.
My yoga practice has not yet resumed in full. I feel generally bloated, but not as stiff as I would normally without a week or practice. I am looking forward to the full blessings of the doctor today to resume as well as I am interested to see how the increased volume of airflow changes my yogic breathing and hence overall sensation of the yoga practice.
You know, everything is connected. Connective tissue supports and binds all the different types of tissue and organs together in the body. So if there is a lack of flexibility in one area, it will affect the other. A clenched jaw can create a lot of tension that will obviously affect other areas of the body. Of course I knew this, however, the source of the jaw clenching has just been revealed to me. Who knew it was as simple as trying to breath? I've been pouring over my 5th Chakra for years trying to figure out why it is blocked!
I hope that this blog is helping anyone else who may have similar issues. At least to go to the doctor and inquire further. Perhaps there is a simple procedure that can fix things for you too, but you are just not connecting the dots. The eyes, ears, nose and mouth are pretty close together. Anything that is occurring in any one of them could very well be causing issues in other areas. In yoga, everything starts with the breath. It is where we become still, relax and know our truth. Breath reveals everything, and yet, some things remain hidden to our limited understanding of the mind, masked by the distractions of referred pains and other symptoms.
So, Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's off to the doctor I go. Let's see what he has to say about my progress.
 |
| Me, 1 week Post Op |
********************************************************************************
Doctor's Visit:
Doctor said my operation could not have gone any better. He was very pleased with the operation and my progress. He answered the few questions that I had and asked me to just call him in two weeks to let me know how I was doing. He said I didn't need a follow-up visit, but he just wanted to know that everything was okay. I really like this doctor!
*********************************************************************************
To Be Continued...
How long until you returned to yoga? It's been three weeks since my procedure but I'm stil healing, rinsing several times a day. I've gone back to work and done the odd walk, but am wary of downward dog. I know I can modify, but just curious about how long you waited.
ReplyDeleteHealing takes time and patience. I cannot remember how long I waited for inversions, but I know that I practiced restorative and gentle yoga fairly soon - maybe a week or two after. That was for me. You have to do what is best for you and be careful. Yoga can be very healing if done the right way. Blessings for a speedy recovery!
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