Extreme pain five days after impacted wisdom tooth removal? What can I do?
Posted , 2 users are following.
So I got my lower-right-back wisdom tooth removed last Tuesday because a week prior, I got a gum infection where it was partially ruptured. Now usually, these aren't too bad, and they go away on their own, and they usually only occur when I eat a lot of something crumbly and hard (like popcorn or nuts), but aside from that, I never got any trouble out of my wisdom tooth. Except this one time where the infection was especially painful and wasn't going away very fast. Since I'm planning on doing some travelling work for 10 months soon, I figured I better get the wisdom tooth removed.
When the procedure occurred last Tuesday, I remember that when the doctor was injecting me with numbing agents with a needle, there were a few times when it felt like someone had hit the tip of my tongue with a taser or something. My dentist said that this was most likely him accidentally hitting a nerve with a needle when sticking it under my tongue. Aside from that and the usual discomforts, it seemed to have gone well: They pulled the tooth out, put a filling in a molar that was right beside the wisdom tooth (which now feels like a plastic plate that I keep biting down on, and he put a suture on the socket to help it close and heal. He told me that the tooth was a bit "tricky", and put me on painkillers, and told me to take one-to-two of them every 4-6 hours alongside 800 mg of Ibuprofen.
The day of the surgery was OK: I had a lot of discomfort, but taking my pain medication as prescribed seemed to be adequate for keeping the pain away. Starting the day after, on Wednesday, I just began experiencing increasing pain in the gum socket, and it seemed like I had to take two painkillers and 800 mg of ibuprofen for it to even relieve some of the pain. On Friday, I was already out of pain meds, but still in a lot of pain, so I went to see them again. The dentist took a quick look at the socket and said it was "looking good". He reminded me that it had only been three days since the surgery, and that it may take awhile for not only the socket to heal, but to fully recover from the trauma of my jaw from the work itself due to the difficulty of it, is how I understood it. He then gave me another prescription for pain meds, and now a prescription for 500mg amoxicillin that is to be taken every six hours. He also gave me popsickle sticks to bite down on as a stretching exercise for my jaw, which DID help relieve a lot of pain the first few times, but now it does nothing.
I'm now on day five, I believe, and I am still in excruciating pain. It didn't help that last night, I went to stay with my mom and her fiance for one night in their RV, where I ran out of my last three pain pills, and was up most of the night due to pain but not being able to do anything for relief. My mom tried some essential oils and a warm compress, but they only worked for as long as they lasted, which wasn't long.
Now, the right side of my jaw has horrible throbbing pain, and is starting to radiate to my right ear, and I feel like there's a lot of pressure in my head but mainly on the front of my face, and I think my head is a bit hot. Sometimes, especially after rinsing out that gum socket, the right side of my tongue and underneath it feels a little numb. Every time I try to lay down, it feels like a bunch of blood is just rushing towards that socket and putting pressure on it, making it worse. Even when I manage to lessen the pain or sleep through it, I always wake up 1-2 hours later to the horrible sensation of someone just jabbing deep down into that socket and into my ear with a q-tip or a needle, and I don't know what's going on.
From what I've read on the internet, what I am experiencing could be something called "dry socket", where the socket either failed to clot, or the blood clot was dislodged. I do remember pulling a gauze off the socket area when I was trying to deaden it with ambisol, and seeing some weird dark piece of something with what looked like a drop of pus or something white on it, but at this point, I was already experiencing bad pain. After that, I decided to take a syringe I was given and to squirt Listerine directly into the socket in hopes of cleaning it out, if I already have dry socket.
So far, that Listerine rinse is the only thing that has provided any relief all day, and it only lasts for about 30 minutes. Now since my last rinse, the entire right-side of my mouth has been aching, and that soft area below my tongue feels sore. Sometimes sucking the inside of my mouth provides relief, other times, it just feels like it's making it worse.
On top of that, my middle teeth on the top row and bottom row often feel annoyed and like I need to teeth, but I am not sure if that's from the pain radiating from the socket, or if it's due to my having not worn my retainers in a week.
The only time since yesterday that ibuprofen has worked, was when I accidentally took more than four, and I felt extremely good and groggy for about 2-6 hours.
Either way, I would like some expert advice or a second opinion on this. I'm supposed to go back this upcoming Friday to get the stitch removed, but I'm not sure if I can wait until then unless I can find a natural solution to this pain that consistently works. I know the socket is most likely healing by now, but I really don't want to keep living like this, and it needs to be resolved before my trip in three weeks. I'm really starting to regret ever getting that tooth pulled.
I'm planning on getting some clove oil, but it may take awhile to get here. I try some more of that gum numbing gel, but it doesn't seem to work anymore unless I just coat my entire mouth, and for some reason, the taste and texture of it makes me sick. My dad has offered to give me a hydrocodone pill that he had left over from after his hernia surgery, but I'd rather not take pain medication that is not mine.
0 likes, 11 replies
lily65668 justin39181
Posted
Justin, this isn't the place to get expert advice. This is a patient forum, where people discuss their symptoms, usually having seen a professional first.
I have, however, experienced the pain of dry socket after a dental extraction, and know just how unbearable it can be. Amoxycillin is the correct medication for this, but usually takes at least five days to kick in. So you need to give it at least another three days.
You don't say whether you can see anything abnormal at the site. Dry socket is when the scab has fallen off too early, exposing the bone, which can clearly be seen in the socket as a whitish patch.
I think a lot of the other, non-pain symptoms you're experiencing probably are due to minor nerve damage, as your dentist has said. These will take quite a few weeks to subside.
And please don't take the hydrocodone! I'm a former nurse, btw, though not in the oral surgery area. I am, however, well aware of the possibility of addiction to any drugs of this class, which can sometimes start after a single dose. Your uncle may have got away with it, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will.
Calm down a bit, as anxiety can make a lot of the symptoms worse - especially the altered sensations in your mouth. Give the amoxycillin time to work and go back to your dentist again if there's no improvement after a week or so.
justin39181 lily65668
Posted
Well, I thought I almost had it under control, today. After submitting to the pain and curling up into a ball at around 9:00 PM last night, I actually finally managed to go to sleep without being woke up by pain or noise until about 11:00 PM or 12:00 AM, and ate some hot soup my dad made for me, which cleared up my sinuses and immediately relieved a lot of the pain.
So then I stayed up until about 1:00 - 2:00 AM eating soup, cleaning out the socket with Listerine and salt water, then I took my antibiotic, 800 mg of ibuprofene, two 500 mg tyleonol pills, a sleep aid, and went back to bed where I slept peacefully until about 9:00 AM where I woke up naturally. Then for the rest of the day, I avoided dairy, took my medication at the proper times, and made sure I stayed warm and kept my sinuses clear by drinking tea and hot chocolate with every meal, making sure not to eat too much (both in portions and bites), and rinsing after every meal.
After that, at about around 1:00 PM, my little sister was done with school and wanted to play on my laptop, and I began to feel claustraphobic again, so I went outside like I usually do, but despite trying my best to wear many layers, the cold air and wind still got to my mouth some. Afterwards, I ate a bowl of red beans and rice my dad cooked, and I think a lot of the grit of it got into the socket, so a lot of the throbbing pain I had yesterday came back, and it almost feels like something is squirming in the socket.
I rinsed out the socket as many times as I could while having access to the bathroom, and I used 800 mg of ibuprofen and applied Orajel around the site, but I still have a fair throbbing pain and and squirming sensation in the right side of my jaw after a pretty intense 30-40 minute episode.
I was going to try to wait until Friday to go back to the dentist like I have scheduled with them, but it's starting to look like I'm going to have another sleepless night, and I'm not sure if I can keep living like this for another four days. I'm beginning to feel frustrated and agitated. It's like every time I am getting close to going to sleep, no one will let me sleep because it's the middle of the day, and then when everyone is finally asleep, I keep waking up in the middle of the night due to pain.
lily65668 justin39181
Posted
Oh dear, Justin. Sounds like your family is a large part of your problem!
This will sort itself out but it's going to take time. Just one thing... did your dentist tell you to keep squirting Listerine etc. into the socket? Usually they don't advise that kind of thing as it may hold up the healing process. However, if that's what you've been told to do, then you should continue.
justin39181 lily65668
Posted
Uh, no, my dentist didn't tell me to do that. I actually can't remember where I got the idea of doing that from. It just seemed to work at times.
I was up until about 1-2 AM waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in and for my dad and little sister to go to sleep, and I woke up at about 4 or 5 AM with a sharp pain in my gum socket, so I got up and rinsed it out with Listerine and put some oraljel on and took some more ibuprofen. I was up until about 7:30 AM when I finally drifted off to sleep, when about 30 minutes later, I heard microwave slamming, and it turned out my dad and little sister were already up.
I was going to try and see if I can visit the dentist today, but my dad has a doctor appointment at 1:30 PM, which he was considering seeing if he could reschedule, but I was reluctant for him to skip it, and he didn't seem too worried this morning, and all we got from the dentist office was an answering machine, so I just told him I would call again later and schedule to visit them sometime tomorrow if possible.
It seems like the only thing that keeps the pain away is keeping my body temperature so high that I sweat, and keeping my adrenaline up, so I guess I'll be spending the rest of the day walking and running outside listening to music until dad leaves for his appointment, in which I will watch my little sister for about 2-6 hours on 4 hours of sleep, while experiencing dry-socket(esque) pain. I'm trying to stay calm, but it's just so frustrating and painful at times.
It's going to be a very, very long day.
Question: If the max amount of ibuprofen I can take at at time is 800 mg but the total for 24 hours is 3200 mg, is there any risk in taking 3200 mg right before bed? Is there any benefit?
justin39181 lily65668
Posted
lily65668 justin39181
Posted
Stop squirting stuff into the socket, and don't poke at it either. I'm guessing your dentist may have told you to rinse your mouth gently, either with salt water or with something he prescribed. This is all you should be doing. Under no circumstances should you interfere with a fresh socket in any way, or it will get infected and not heal. I'm afraid you've brought this on yourself to a large extent.
Don't take the whole dose of ibuprofen all at one go. You might get away with it, given your young age, but it's quite toxic to the liver and you risk making yourself ill. I don't think a dose of more than 800mg would provide very much extra analgesia anyway.
You're right to avoid going outside in the cold air (as I think you mentioned in another post). If you have to go out in the cold, try and keep your mouth closed as cold air will make the pain worse.
What you mainly have to do is follow your dentist's instructions and don't invent your own "treatments". This will take time but you'll get over it.
justin39181 lily65668
Posted
I'll just wait until Firday to see my dentist then. Thank you!
lily65668 justin39181
Posted
That'll be down to two things. For a start, you'll have a lot of swelling deep in the tissues that's pressing on the nerves. This always happens after wisdom tooth extraction. Also, when local anaesthetic is administered right at the back of the lower jaw, the dentist usually can't avoid putting the needle into the joint cavity. This results in stiffness, pain, clicking and all sorts of other odd sensations that can last for a month or so after the extraction. However, it will clear up.
justin39181 lily65668
Posted
Well, that's good to hear. I went back, and the dentist removed the suture. He didn't say anything was wrong, so I guess it's OK. As a matter as fact, over the last two days since I've been brushing my teeth and salt water rinsing like normal, and have been avoiding really gritty food, the pain has become much more bearable, and I am able to sleep about as regular as I did before the surgery. I looked at the socket yester day and today, and it looks like a narrow crack or ravine now, so I guess that's much better than a gaping hole.
I've also been able to go outside for extended periods of time without much discomfort at all, and I actually think walking and listening to music helps somehow. The nerve still gets increasingly irritated as the day progresses, especially after dinner, but I've been able to calm it down and keep it calm with ibuprofen and Tylenol before bed, and I'm almost through all of my antibiotics.
The only thing I'm concerned about at this point is how well is this thing going to heal over the next two weeks before my trip, and did the clove oil help or hurt my mouth?
I made another stupid mistake and tried soaking a gauze with pure clove oil and putting it over the socket last night after dinner when my nerve was acting up especially bad for once. I didn't know I was supposed to dilute the oil with another oil first, so even though it took away the pain in the socket for several hours, it stung my lips, left the right corner of my mouth feeling a little burned (like glazed, not actually burned), and left the right side of my tongue feeling a little burned.
I applied the oil at about 10:30 PM last night, and now at 10:00 AM, I can feel a bit of ache in the socket again (which I am oddly relieved by), but the right side of my tongue still feels as if I scolded it with hot water, and doesn't really taste anything so far. I'm guessing that will heal over the course of the next few days as well, but I've read about how direct application of clove oil can cause ulcers, and how repeated use can cause gum and tooth decay, but I'm worried if it might have caused some permanent damage to my gums, teeth, or tongue with just that one use.
Honestly, even though I know how to use it properly now, I don't really want to use clove oil ever again unless I end up in terrible pain again and it's the only thing left to try. So far, I have no ulcers in my cheek or gum or anything, and aside from my tongue feeling "burned" on the right half, everything feels back to normal. I think ibuprofen, Tylenol, and keeping my sinuses clear will do just fine at this point.
lily65668 justin39181
Posted
Justin, you shouldn't be putting clove oil (or any other oil) anywhere near an open wound! That's just asking for infection. Fortunately you're still under antibiotic cover so you should get away with that one.
Clove oil is a folk remedy that is only recommended for application to the gum when you have a toothache - which obviously implies the tooth is still there in the socket. I tried it a few times many years ago when I had a recurrent chronic abscess hidden deep in the root of an upper molar (that five dentists in two countries failed to diagnose over a 10-year period). I agree, it's disgusting stuff. I'm convinced the only way it could possibly work is by making your gum, cheek and tongue so sore, it might make you forget the toothache for a while! It won't have caused any permanent damage though.
I'm sure you'll be fine for your trip, which I gather from your first post is in about two weeks' time. But only if you guarantee not to squirt, poke, anoint or do any other bizarre things to the socket in the meantime! For goodness' sake let nature take its course. Just continue the gentle salt-water mouthwashes and avoid eating anything that upsets the socket. From what you say, it sounds as if it's is healing very well anyway in spite of all your assorted ministrations. (And certainly not because of them!) You'll probably still have a bit of discomfort by then but nothing too serious.
One last warning: don't overdo the Tylenol and ibuprofen. The maximum dose you should be taking is six tablets each of Tylenol 500mg and ibuprofen 200mg per day, and it's advisable to try and stay below that dose. Neither drug is particularly good for the liver, though that probably won't be too much of a problem at your age. They're only painkillers and won't speed (or slow down) healing. It's also very important to finish your course of antibiotics.
Now stop worrying so much about yourself and get on with the preparations for your trip!
justin39181 lily65668
Posted
Permanent damage from the oil was really my main concern, but it sounds like my tongue is just going to be sore for a few days. I'll continue to try and reduce my ibuprofen and Tylenol intake to only before bed, and hopefully not need it at all by Monday.
Thank you for your help, Lily!