So, in my last post, I mentioned a new concept in our
healthcare system. I tried to find out
if there was a specific term for these offices, but was unsuccessful. I call them one-stop-shops, but that’s me. So, I’ll just describe it to you, k? In this clinic, there’s general physicians,
nurse practitioners, behavioral health providers, and in some clinics are
dentists. From what I’ve heard, they’re
hoping to open more clinics like this and want to include eye doctors. I’m definitely in favor of this concept. If you really think about it, a lot of
physical ailments/issues are mental health-based. For instance, think of how you feel when
you’re stressed. Symptoms include muscle
soreness, headache, jaw pain, backache, low energy, upset stomach, insomnia,
etc. I have friends that have gone to
the doctor for symptoms similar to these and the doctor will eventually ask,
“Are you under any kind of stress?” Of
course, who isn’t these days, right? So,
if you go to one of these clinics for a regular doctor visit and the doctor
thinks you might benefit from talking to a behavioral health provider, you
don’t have to wait for a referral and usually have a long wait. The same goes for a dental health
provider. If you go for headaches and it
turns out that you grind your teeth, the dental health provider can help treat
you for this problem. By the way, if you
do grind your teeth, I highly recommend a night guard. It’ll help deter morning headaches. You can either get one specially fitted at
the dentist’s office or throw the dice and get one at Walmart, Target,
etc. That’s the route I go, and it works
for me. I can’t guarantee it’ll work for
you, though.
So, since I’ve brought up the issue of teeth grinding and insomnia,
I want to talk about it a bit. When I
was younger, I was really bad about grinding my teeth. It got bad enough that the dentist specially
fitted one for me. Now, this was MANY
years ago, so technology has helped the process since I went through it. It’s been within the past 3 or 4 years that
I’ve gotten worse about it, and have had to go back to wearing one. I was a happy girl when I found out they can
be bought at the store. I’ll admit that
I was leery of getting it at the store instead of having the dentist make it
for me, but it works well enough to help with the headaches I get
frequently. The bad part of a store
bought one is that they don’t last NEAR as long as the ones from the
dentist. I got to a point that I went
through a guard every two weeks. Yes, my
grinding has been so bad that I’ve chewed holes in the rubber-like
material.
Now, the insomnia I suffered from wasn’t related to my teeth
grinding. My insomnia stems off of my
anxiety. You have probably heard at
least one person say that they can’t get their brain to shut off when they go
to bed. I’m one of those people. Not only do I easily get off on a tangent
when I’m talking, I go off on tangents when I’m trying to sleep. I can go from “Should I apologize for telling
so-and-so to shut up?” to “I need to have that rash looked at.” in less than a
minute! It’s not a good time. And of course, while I am thinking about the
funny looking rash, I can’t get comfortable at all! Not only can I not get comfortable, I have
two Chihuahuas to worry about when I’m trying to readjust. 9 times out of 10, I’ll hear one of them
squeal. That’s, of course, when I freak
out because I thought I squished one of them.
If I have one of those bad nights, absolutely NO ONE gets any
sleep. The pups and I usually spend the
next day trying to keep our eyes open.
Am I alone in this?
Until next time…
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