Today I bought some beeswax, face masks and a package of candy corn from Ace Hardware. The kind lady behind the counter offered my son a balloon. Noooooooooooo I thought. I hate balloons, because blowing them up hurts my face. Am I the only person who feels this way? Here is how it happens. I stretch out the balloon a little bit, because that’s what the balloon guy does when he’s about to make a horsey or a giraffe, so I figure it’s the mark of a professional. Then I start to inflate the balloon, inflate, inflated. Yay! A balloon!
Fifteen minutes later, the back of my jaws burn like the fire of a thousand suns. It’s not so much a pain as a irritation. It feels like the insides of my ears itch. And this continues for a couple of hours. I don’t blow up many balloons. I’m not sure how you can “do it wrong” but I do, every time. Balloons hurt my face. When there is a party that calls for a balloon, I go make dip instead. Leave the latex for someone else. But today, I decided to give it another shot, and I blew up the red balloon, watching the Ace Hardware logo expand from a tiny black smudge to a four inch graphic. Maybe this time will be different, I told myself, which is the same thing I tell myself each and every time a balloon finds its way into my life. And each time, I am wrong. It is never different. It always sucks. It even blows. Ha.
The damn balloon only lasted ten minutes. My daughter tried to eat it (she tries to eat everything…old fossilized broccoli hiding beneath the kitchen table…worms from my worm bin…did I blog about my pet worms yet?) and it popped. Then she tried to eat the dangerous rubber pieces. Fucking balloon. My son cried because his sister ate his balloon. Or at least bit it to death.
May 14, 2009 at 8:26 pm
They make little pumps for balloons…they are cheap…like $1.00.
May 14, 2009 at 8:31 pm
well frick, now you tell me.
May 15, 2009 at 3:26 am
I think you just need more practice…You should go to the store and buy one of those 1000 pack balloon bags and blow them all up, that’ll cure you!
May 15, 2009 at 6:39 am
That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard (the blowing thing not the eating thing). I hate balloons too – my kids bat them around the house, knocking things off tables in the process. I scream, they fight, someone cries. Fucking balloons indeed.
May 15, 2009 at 7:14 am
I hate balloons too, but not for irritation of allergy, but they almost always end up exploding in my face and that stinkin’ hurts I tell ya!
May 21, 2009 at 6:01 pm
They don’t hurt my face to blow up but the taste of them makes me gag.
June 13, 2009 at 12:18 pm
A quick google search regarding “back of jaw hurts when blowing up a balloon” came back with this page. I never thought to attribute the pain I experience to be an Ear pain, but now that I think about it more, it could be I suppose.
Anyway, I first experienced this pain blowing up a balloon in 3rd grade (I remember this because I talked to our family doctor on the phone and for some reason 3rd Grade just seems right).
Still to this day (i’m 24) I get this pain when I blow up balloons. I too am a Dip person. You are not alone!
off to find out more information. FYI, now that I am tough enough to explore the pain, I notice than when I push on the area of pain, I hear a squishy sound. I will press this area later today to see if it’s still squishy
MMM experiments, brings me back.
Cheers (oww my jaw/ear)
July 25, 2009 at 9:34 pm
This happens to me too when blowing up balloons…your page made me LOL. i was once accused of trying laziness when trying to get out of doing such a task and i tried to explain “no, it really does hurt!!!” thats when a nurse told me it is the eustation tube (associated with the ear) filling with air (no the balloon thing isnt normal but happens to a few of us). but yeah i too found this pg while (i typed “pain when bowing up balloons”) trying to prove a someone that i didnt make this up! i have found a way to blow up a balloon IF I HAVE TO without the painful air phenom, it is SLOW but u have to prevent your cheeks from blowing up and just push the air in your mouth out without actually blowing with your cheeks.
July 27, 2009 at 11:39 am
Oddly, I am in the boat with people with pain. I’m 22 and I have always hurt like heck after blowing up a balloon. Today is my husbands birthday, I tried blowing up one to throw on the table by his card…and I regret blowing that balloon now. It sounded like my ear/head popped and now there is some serious pain behind my jaw just below my earlobe. I officially will never blow balloon again myself, w/o a pump…I agree with the other nurse saying air in the estachian tube, I hope i just didnt’ over do it…*sigh* Careful others with balloon blowing ear/jaw pain…they aren’t worth it.
July 27, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I am so glad you posted Danielle! I am glad I am not the only one with Mystery Balloon Pain (MBP…ask your doctor if Jawzifil is right for you!) Weird that some people are more prone to this than others, but maybe we should form a support group or something?
September 3, 2009 at 10:44 am
I did the same thing, and my jaw hurts like hell. I tried chewing on something and after like 2 chews the pain was magnified 30x. It’s happened before, but usually goes away after like 10 minutes. It’s been going strong for 2 hours now, and I can’t eat a thing.