Sienna Seychell

By Sienna Seychell

My journalism professor asked the class if anybody carried Nurofen on them. It seems he was in pain. Unbeknownst to me as someone who consumes Nurofen daily, it puts me at a higher risk of having a heart attack or a stroke than people who don’t consume it.

I always carry my trusty Nurofen packet close. Well, it’s not the original brand but rather a knock-off bought on a holiday in Prague. The kind that’s double the strength to get me through the day. As a sufferer of chronic jaw pain, also known as Temporomandibular disorder, you’re told to learn kind of to live and deal with it. The Nurofen does just enough to get me through work, university, and life. I’ve come to resent my reliance on it.

John Nicholson and pharmacologist Stewart Adams invented Ibuprofen during the 1950-60s in England, now one of the most popular treatments for pain relief.

At age 13, I began suffering from TMD; seven years later, and I’m 20, still left suffering. Having encountered all the specialists, the Botox, splints, but nothing helps.

TMD lacks the proper research and evidence to find a definitive solution. Instead, I’m told to eat softer foods, do certain exercises, and stop chewing gum, which is a bit of a buzzkill, but you do it anyway. I think it’s my love for yapping, but I’m not giving it up just yet.