Why it is good to journal your journey
For most folks TMJ is a game of going in circles for years. Your journal is how you escape that fate.
Every week I read a number of online journals of folks in Reviv community.
They track what they’re feeling. Sometimes they ask questions.
And I comment.
I find this to be extremely powerful because it keeps people on track and helps alleviate their concerns.
And this game is all about second guessing as I’ve mentioned earlier.
The path is relatively simple at the end of the day… wear a rubber mouthguard and you will improve.
But it is often fraught with doubt early on. In part because you are typically neurologically impaired, which tends to make folks very fickle.
Hit a bump in the road and many folks will just jump ship and go in the reverse direction.
A journal helps prevent you from doing that. So let me explain more about journaling.
I've journaled for almost ten years
I started tracking my journey way back in 2014 when I first found Starecta.
At the time, I was pretty desperate - a dentist in Vietnam had drilled my teeth flat and I was completely screwed up. I started documenting everything.
I'd take photos of my face from different angles, write down how I felt physically and mentally, and note any changes I observed. Anytime I tried something new with my splint or changed my approach, I'd write it down.
When I was using a ‘tracking splint’ I’d also track where I was drilling on the splint. If i was drilling on the front it was good and on the back was bad. Because of how the ‘curve of spee’ works.
Looking back now, those early journal entries were gold.
They helped me piece together what was actually working versus what just seemed like it was working at the time.
It has been very helpful in tracking learnings
One of the most valuable things about journaling was how it helped me identify patterns. I'd often spend time reading through my past few months of entries and suddenly connections would click that I hadn't seen before.
This helped me approach this whole thing more scientifically.
Instead of just trying random stuff, I could form hypotheses based on past experiences and then test them properly. I'd write down what I expected to happen and then track whether it actually did.
The journal became like my lab notebook for experimenting on myself. And trust me, when you're dealing with something as complex as these biomechanics, you need that kind of systematic approach.
It also helps you avoid repeating the same mistakes
Here's something funny - even after years of working on this stuff, I found myself wanting to try things I'd already proven didn't work.
The mind plays tricks on you when you're dealing with this stuff. In part because it is directly impacting and sometimes damaging your brain.
Having a detailed journal saved me from repeating those mistakes.
I could look back and see "oh yeah, I tried that in November 2016 and the contacts were getting heavier on the back part of my splint." Without those written records, I probably would have gone in circles a lot more.
I also noticed this pattern with other folks in the TMJ groups - they'd often try the same approaches multiple times because they forgot why hadn't worked before.
In fact i’d go as far as saying that probably over 90% of folks that are in this game for more than a few years just starting going in circles and repeating the same mistakes. I’ve seen many examples of this over the years.
The person will have one belief. Then a year later they’d be saying it was completely wrong. And another year after that they’d be saying it is correct again.
Find folks that are in this game over a decade and you will see this pattern again and again. Plus they’ll be spending tons of money on dentists the whole time.
I recommend everyone journal
This is why I consider it a major mistake not to journal while doing this process.
It's like trying to hit a target that's really far away but just shooting from the hip. You need to document your learnings to improve your aim.
In the Reviv community, I actually offer to review people's journals and comment on them. This helps me guide them better because I can see exactly what they're experiencing and compare it to patterns I've seen before.
When someone tells me "oh I felt some pain in my teeth" I can reflect on numerous other people's journals and say "yeah, that's normal - it should go away in a couple days."
Now I track quite a number of journals
Plus, tracking multiple people's journals has helped me understand these biomechanics even better. You start to see the same patterns repeat across different individuals, which really confirms what works and what doesn't.
So yeah, if you're starting this journey, start a journal. Write down:
What you feel each day
Any changes you notice
Photos from front and profile in same light with same camera
Any changes you make to what you’re doing
Don't just trust your memory. This stuff is too important to leave to chance.
Parting words
People that blindly rely on dentists in this TMJ game do not progress. They go in circles for years.
Till they end up extremely frustrated, depressed, and a lot poorer.
That is what i’ve concluded after nearly ten years of observing many folks in various TMJ forums.
To break this cycle you need to be scientific about how you approach this shit. You need to save yourself.
And one of your tools in doing that is your journal.