This public service announcement brought to you by generic Daypro:

If someone knows the number for Gregory House, please pass it along. For the rest of you, let's see if emulating the renowned TV diagnostician has armed you to deduce the cause of the following: jaw pain on the right side; not in the teeth, and just below the ear, occasionally pulling at the canal; bad enough to wake up the patient in the middle of the night and make for a generally irritable disposition during the day.

Possible causes:
1. Minor car accident in which the patient's head was tossed forward while the patient was looking 90 degrees to the left. Sound like whiplash? I thought so too.

2. Insufficient hygiene following fairly extensive dental work in the area not four months ago. Cavity? Good bet, even though the pain was not localized in the teeth. This theory went out the door when the pain started shifting from lower to upper jaw and back.

3. Stress: a history of teeth clenching and grinding. This is third on the list because it is a relatively recent recurrence of a childhood habit. The dentist originally caught it after the patient experienced pain on a business trip following a procedure. Altitude? Eh. Not enough to cause this type of pain.

Current most likely cause: Number 3, clenching. Turns out that having an abnormally strong bite can be downright excruciating when coupled with stress and a nasty unconscious habit.

Enter daypro: an anti-inflammatory that will at least make it all go away during the daylight hours. As for the stress that induces the clenching...well, there are always refills.