I have just returned from a grim two hour wrestling match with a bunch of dental equipment. My remedy for pain is two aspirin and a cold-pack on the jaw. Even after a full-blown rotator cuff surgery, BBW used Vicodin for no more than the first three nights, preferring to dampen things down with Tylenol, or if possible just Ibuprofen.

My own belief is that pain is a message from the body, just like itches, pleasure, heat or pressure. And if you ignore the messages your body sends you, it will shut down harder, and get worse next time. Buying the Madison Avenue line about drugs is like believing in the 1950's advertisements about cigarettes being glamourous and tasting really good. Sometimes you have to cope somehow but the less, the better IMHO.


A