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Will add a TL;DR at the bottom. To give some context, I've been mewing for about 3 years (started at 19, now 22), only having engaged the tip and the middle of the tongue. I didn't want to engage the back third and have my molars touching as I felt that I was damaging my teeth. Even with just the tip and the middle engaged, people have noticed that my face has slimmed down over the years and looks more chiseled than before. After reading a post on reddit in mid-November on how to properly engage the back third of the tongue and have the molars touching, I had a MASSIVE breakthrough and I finally felt what proper mewing was. I was so excited for the upcoming progress because I was finally 100% properly swallowing, chewing (this humbled me to how truly weak my jaw was) and mewing.
This euphoria ended a month later in mid-December. During that month span, I was regularly hard mewing almost all day and things were going great. One thing I always noticed is if I really try to engage the entire tongue (I'm talking even further than the back third soft palate), I notice that a joint/ligament at the back of my head engages (feels like it moves up). One night in mid-December, I was high on weed and as I was laying in bed before going to sleep and hard mewing at 110%. Being high, it really distorted my perception of sensation and I went WAY overboard with hard mewing. I hard mewed so hard with the back of my tongue that I eventually felt a crackling at the back of my head. Immediately afterwards, I had an absolutely horrible headache that lasted a week. Dull pain at the back of the head, hurt to read/focus my eyes (makes sense as the back of the head controls the eyes), horrible nausea and felt spaced out (like my vestibular/balance system was messed up).
I've waited approximately 2 weeks after having no headache (during this time just had tip engaged, mouth closed, nose breathing) before trying to properly mew but when I try, I start getting these headaches again but less severe. It might be because I'm rushing things, I'm immediately going back to hard mewing for 5+ hours at a time when maybe I should start with 5 minutes and then build up. The last flare up was particularly bad which lead me to start having headaches just closing my mouth, breathing through my nose and even when I genuinely smiled. I was partially contemplating suicide not because I can't mew, but because I can't even enjoy normal things such as smiling and breathing through my nose without these headaches.
For the past 2 weeks I've had to force myself to breath through my mouth (disgusting) to get rid of the headaches and I believe why this worked is because I'm fully relaxing all joints/ligaments/muscles at the back of my head associated with mewing. My plan is to keep this up for another 4-6 weeks before attempting to properly mew and having everything reset.
My question for you guys is would you have any idea what part of the back of my head I screwed up? How I can properly fix it? Has anyone experienced this before? People have told me to go to the doctor but they have absolutely no idea what's wrong and think I'm crazy.
TL;DR: Hard mewed wayyyyyyyyy too hard with the back of my tongue which engages some part of the back of my head, felt a crackling at the back of my head, had horrible headaches which have only really gone away because I started mouth breathing again. I'd like to know what part of the back of my head I likely screwed up and how I can recover from this properly.
I don't disbelieve you, but I do feel obliged to ask: are absolutely certain that you haven't hit your head? In any case, if the issues you're experiencing ensue, I would recommend seeing a doctor to confirm whether it's something serious.
Could you also show us in which region at the back of the skull you've heard the crack and feel pain now?
I have also experienced a loud crack in my skull, by the way, but it was at the pterygoid. I'm still trying to figure out whether it was the noise of a healthy adjustment or whether a small piece of my pterygoid wing broke off. Anyway, we should probably exercise more caution about the degree of force that we apply.
24 years old
That sounds terrible man, jesus.
It sounds like you forced something out of place, or made an adjustment in your skull that the rest of your craniofacial anatomy wasn't ready for yet. It might be possible to reverse it by suctioning your tongue instead of pushing. It might click back, but I'm not sure.
It's possible this initial crack may trigger changes around the rest of your skull so keep an eye on it, might turn out for the better.
After a quick google on the brain functions around the area you heard the crack:
"The cerebellum receives information from the sensory systems, the spinal cord, and other parts of the brain and then regulates motor movements. The cerebellum coordinates voluntary movements such as posture, balance, coordination, and speech, resulting in smooth and balanced muscular activity"
"The occipital lobe is the visual processing area of the brain. It is associated with visuospatial processing, distance and depth perception, color determination, object and face recognition, and memory formation"
This aligns with your symptoms somewhat.
The sphenoid is attached to the occipital and since your were pushing back on it I think it's likely you were applying considerable forces against that system. See pic:
You may have changed the shape of your braincase and the headaches may be pressure on your brain, but I think it'll adjust to the new shape no worries.
I think you'll be okay, and anyone reading this should take caution to mewin too damn hard.
I'd suggest seeing a doctor anyway though. Just for peace of mind and to be safe.
Firstly, I really appreciate your reply as I haven't gotten any helpful responses elsewhere (just people saying "don't hard mew u fool!!!!!"). As a heads up the 1st paragraph of this reply pertains to my 6 year bout with post concussion syndrome and the 2nd paragraph pertains to my experiences with doctors so far with this issue and the 3rd answers your question regarding the region of pain.
Interestingly enough, I've been dealing with post concussion syndrome since April 2014. My only symptom with PCS is that I have extreme head sensitivity (aka super light traumas to the head will give me headaches) which would make sense why an event like this would possibly affect me more profoundly than other people. Overall, the PCS has gotten significantly better in the past 6 months after seeing a chiropractic neurologist (chiropractor specializing in neurological disorders). It turns out I don't have real brain damage or anything but I just have excess inflammation in my body and brain so he put me on a super strict anti-inflammatory diet (more specifically the AIP Diet), prescribed me specific brain exercises and neck stretches and I feel so much better. If for some reason you or someone you know is dealing with concussion issues and want more info on treatment or the diet I'd be more than happy to help. The AIP diet is how I believe humans should naturally eat for optimum health.
Also with regards to doctors, I went to the ER 3 days after the first bout of headaches, she said that I was out of my mind for even putting my tongue to the roof of my mouth and had no idea what was wrong with me. My physician at my university had no idea wtf was up and had no idea who to refer me to. Will likely try to speak with my concussion doctor and an osteopath that I've been seeing who practices matrix repatterning (great treatment as well for concussions and your whole body).
To answer your question, the pain is most definitely at the Lambda. When I have a flare up from trying to mew again properly (back third activated) for a prolonged period, I can feel the nerves in the Lambda region at the back of my head and they feel inflamed or aggravated for days, producing those nasty headaches. Even smiling, raising my eyebrows or raising back third makes that Lambda bone area uncomfortable but won't produce headaches unless I do it for a prolonged period. When I do get a flare up, it hurts to read/focus eyes which makes sense as it's in the occipital area, I don't understand why I have massive nausea and a really spaced out/off balance feeling though. Currently I don't feel any pain as I'm mouth breathing with my tongue at the bottom of my mouth now, relieving much of the pressure. We definitely need to be more careful and aware of the pressure we're putting in various areas. I advocate for hard mewing but just don't go full moron like I did and push yourself past 100% force while in an altered state.
Any further suggestions you have on my situation would be greatly appreciated, I'm willing to do anything.
Thanks for the reply brother, it really does feel like the sensation that I might've forced something out of place and or made some crazy cranial adjustment. When you mean suctioning do you mean just soft mew in a suction hold rather than hard mew with force? Suctioning is likely all I'll be limited to for the rest of my life if I fully recover from this and I'll be super grateful for just that even.
With your research on the cerebellum and occipital area, you are spot on. I always knew that the occipital was at the back of the head which was why I wasn't surprised to have difficulty/headaches relating to my eyes but I had no idea that the cerebellum was at the back as well, making a lot of sense why I was feeling nauseous and spaced out. Also I should note that the pain is slightly more localized to the left side of the back of my skull if that makes any difference (left side of tongue is weaker thus when I was pushing too hard, a secondary muscle on the left side engaged the back of the skull too hard leading to the crackling).
With regards to doctors, I've seen 2 general physicians and they have no idea what's wrong nor do they know who to refer me to. I'm probably going to schedule an appointment with an osteopath I've been seeing for matrix repatterning, she's very, very well versed on the skull so hopefully she has some better insights. I do feel after enough time that my skull will likely adjust to this and this resolves fingers cross.
Lastly, regarding hard mewing, I feel it's necessary to do to build up the tongue strength to be able to light mew passively. I just advocate that nobody does it while on any kind of drug or altered state as it's hard to gauge how much force you're applying and it's so easy to get carried away and do something absolutely terrible like I did.
I agree with your suggestion that your post-concussion syndrome may have been a contributing factor in this recent incident. I guess it's difficult to know for sure, though. For now, I would focus on seeing a professional - as you are doing already - and take it easy, so as not to put any more undue stress on your skull.
Also with regards to doctors, I went to the ER 3 days after the first bout of headaches, she said that I was out of my mind for even putting my tongue to the roof of my mouth and had no idea what was wrong with me.
Haha. She might as well have said, "You've been trying to sit with your back straight? What's wrong with you!? Don't you know you should stay hunched over!?"
On a serious note, it's possible that she was just confused because she never heard of what a good oral posture entails (possibly doesn't have a good oral posture herself) and she has patients telling her all kinds of crazy stuff on a daily basis, so she has become accustomed to rebuking what's unfamiliar.
Lastly, regarding hard mewing, I feel it's necessary to do to build up the tongue strength to be able to light mew passively. I just advocate that nobody does it while on any kind of drug or altered state as it's hard to gauge how much force you're applying and it's so easy to get carried away and do something absolutely terrible like I did.
Many of those starting out are deficient in the musculature necessary to maintain a good oral posture, but it's also important not to overstress your teeth or skull, so yes, I agree.
On the note of drugs, interestingly enough, I recently had a psychedelic trip, which had me tensing my muscles (it was pleasant) and I found myself clenching my teeth aggressively, too. It took me a few whole minutes to notice and stop. I wouldn't have expected that this would have been a problem for another person too.
24 years old
when you mean suctioning do you mean just soft mew in a suction hold rather than hard mew with force?
Yeah, shoulda just said soft mew, lol
I should note that the pain is slightly more localized to the left side of the back of my skull if that makes any difference
You said the left side of your tongue is weaker which over time would lead to asymmetry, which cascades all down your skull, neck, shoulders, etc. at differing severity based on how biased the person is.
Doesn't surprise me that your crack/pain was more on one side than the other. It's almost impossible to achieve perfect symmetry with anything. It's just when it becomes a problem, affects balance, gait, all that fun stuff; that it matters.
You look to be doing the very best for yourself and I hope you're primo again soon man. 🙂
I had exactly the same headaches you described when hard mewing and it felt like some sort of blood vessel was popping. Once I stopped hard mewing the problem resolved itself.
