Dealing with jaw stiffness and other things after wisdom teeth surgery

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Clove oil is pretty good for the whole mouth area. Good local anesthetic. Make sure to use food grade if you use it or you'll poison yourself.
 
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put whole cloves in your mouth for 30 minutes spit out repeat.
apply a warm compress to the side of your jaw
oral gel for affected area
warm not hot drinks and clear soups
plain ice cream
 
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Jaw stiffness is normal, may take about a week for it to go away / start going away. I had a wisdom tooth removed last year and then had to get another removed two days ago, my face has chipmunk cheeks
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Make sure to follow the instructions they gave you, its extremely important. I fucked up the instructions the first time I had a tooth pulled years ago and it caused me years of recurrent infections all because I was being lazy.

I didn't have all 4 done at once like you so your swelling / jaw stiffness may take a bit longer than mine but it will start improving with time. When you're allowed to start chewing soft food that will help with the stiffness but it is uncomfortable and painful at first, but the chewing does slowly help with the stiffness. Just make sure you read any instruction so you know when you can chew and what you're allowed to eat.

For pain my surgeon had me get over the counter tylenol and ibuprofen. Two 500mg tylenol pills, wait 3 hours, three 200mg ibuprofen pills, wait 3 hours and then repeat the steps. Seems to be working good enough for me.

For healing you might see some white scabby shit, that's normal. I thought I had a infection at first but its some weird white 'scab' that forms and eventually goes away that's apart of the healing process. Healing will seem slow at first but then it starts to pick up in speed.
 
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Funny Valentine said:
No, I got it this week.
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So, it was two days ago? Your OP says June.

A couple of days ago might be a normal symptom since you're swollen and probably biting on gauze (although by this point, you shouldn't be using them since bleeding should've stopped). Feeling some pressure at the extraction area is normal (if your molars were very impacted, some bruising might occur as well as the surgeon has to apply some elbow grease). Third to fourth day tends to hurt the most from what I've heard. Per your surgeon's instructions, follow their hygiene and food guidances, as well as hot and cold compress usage.

Your surgeon should've given you a follow-up appointment to see how you're doing. I know some don't and if everything's fine, you don't have to go back to them.

Make sure to clean the areas thoroughly to prevent infections after eating and finish your antibiotics.

Remember, we are all different. When I got mine extracted 20 years ago, I didn't feel any jaw stiffness.

If you want to be very sure, call your surgeon's office. They'll probably call you a pussy behind your back, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
 
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Massa's Little Buckie said:
So, it was two days ago? Your OP says June.
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Really? Shit, my bad.
Massa's Little Buckie said:
A couple of days ago might be a normal symptom since you're swollen and probably biting on gauze (although by this point, you shouldn't be using them since bleeding should've stopped). Feeling some pressure at the extraction area is normal (if your molars were very impacted, some bruising might occur as well as the surgeon has to apply some elbow grease). Third to fourth day tends to hurt the most from what I've heard. Per your surgeon's instructions, follow their hygiene and food guidances, as well as hot and cold compress usage.

Your surgeon should've given you a follow-up appointment to see how you're doing. I know some don't and if everything's fine, you don't have to go back to them.

Make sure to clean the areas thoroughly to prevent infections after eating and finish your antibiotics.

Remember, we are all different. When I got mine extracted 20 years ago, I didn't feel any jaw stiffness.

If you want to be very sure, call your surgeon's office. They'll probably call you a pussy behind your back, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
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I appreciate the help, so far there doesn't seem to be any bruising yet and only the left side of my face is really that sore, so all I really gotta do now is follow instructions and gargle saltwater.
 
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Someone who got 4 wisdom teeth pulled at the same time here. I didn't have any jaw stiffness, but I did have some pain, very minor swelling, and minor bleeding for about 5 days afterwards. Doc had me on mepergan for the first couple days (synthetic opiod IIRC, I don't think they give that out as much these days so I'm going to assume you probably haven't been prescribed this), I only needed it for the first 52 hours and then switched to the extra bigass Tylenol for another 3-4 days, then I only needed normal ibuprofen on occasion. Don't know if your surgeon gave you cotton gauze packs for your sockets, but if he did, don't worry, you probably won't need them for longer than 3 days to deal with minor blood seepage -- I was able to remove them by that point. If you have swelling, I would gently apply a cold pack, wrapped in soft cloth (to insulate a little, and because it is soft and comfy, so you're not irritating the skin you're pressing against), to your jaw near where the discomfort is. Be sure to periodically remove it and let your skin warm up, alternating cold/no cold is good for circulation and therefore healing (source -- family who used to work as a physical therapist, since retired). You can actually use reusable freeze packs instead of ice if you want, the advantage is they're not pointy like ice can be, and they last longer.

Definitely follow all instructions about what you can and cannot eat and drink, and if your surgeon forgot to tell you, please ask them for that info. Be careful about eating noodle soups -- trying to gently get a noodle out of a still-healing socket, without disturbing your stitches, is a stressful affair (sorry if TMI, but this is a medical question you asked so... I'm gonna give you the gory details). Avoid anything that is sticky or is likely to make you want to suck on a straw or your teeth, it can pull on your stitches. If you have the kind that dissolve over time, don't be anxious if and when you feel the edges of them poking out of your gums -- this is normal, and they'll break down completely within a couple weeks. Can't remember if it was 2 or 3 weeks for the last traces to be gone, it's been close to 20 years since I had mine out. You should have a follow up appointment sometime soon-ish, so they can check up on your healing, too. If you've got any other questions, please ask, I don't mind. Oral surgery sucks, and if I can make the recovery suck less for someone, that makes me happy. :heart-full:
 
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SCSI said:
Someone who got 4 wisdom teeth pulled at the same time here. I didn't have any jaw stiffness, but I did have some pain, very minor swelling, and minor bleeding for about 5 days afterwards. Doc had me on mepergan for the first couple days (synthetic opiod IIRC, I don't think they give that out as much these days so I'm going to assume you probably haven't been prescribed this), I only needed it for the first 52 hours and then switched to the extra bigass Tylenol for another 3-4 days, then I only needed normal ibuprofen on occasion. Don't know if your surgeon gave you cotton gauze packs for your sockets, but if he did, don't worry, you probably won't need them for longer than 3 days to deal with minor blood seepage -- I was able to remove them by that point. If you have swelling, I would gently apply a cold pack, wrapped in soft cloth (to insulate a little, and because it is soft and comfy, so you're not irritating the skin you're pressing against), to your jaw near where the discomfort is. Be sure to periodically remove it and let your skin warm up, alternating cold/no cold is good for circulation and therefore healing (source -- family who used to work as a physical therapist, since retired). You can actually use reusable freeze packs instead of ice if you want, the advantage is they're not pointy like ice can be, and they last longer.

Definitely follow all instructions about what you can and cannot eat and drink, and if your surgeon forgot to tell you, please ask them for that info. Be careful about eating noodle soups -- trying to gently get a noodle out of a still-healing socket, without disturbing your stitches, is a stressful affair (sorry if TMI, but this is a medical question you asked so... I'm gonna give you the gory details). Avoid anything that is sticky or is likely to make you want to suck on a straw or your teeth, it can pull on your stitches. If you have the kind that dissolve over time, don't be anxious if and when you feel the edges of them poking out of your gums -- this is normal, and they'll break down completely within a couple weeks. Can't remember if it was 2 or 3 weeks for the last traces to be gone, it's been close to 20 years since I had mine out. You should have a follow up appointment sometime soon-ish, so they can check up on your healing, too. If you've got any other questions, please ask, I don't mind. Oral surgery sucks, and if I can make the recovery suck less for someone, that makes me happy. :heart-full:
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I genuinely appreciate the help, although the part about the noodle soups makes me kinda nervous because I made chicken noodle soup earlier (it's probably okay since I really only drank the soup part) and hearing from other people's experiences makes my own feel a lot less shitty. :)
 
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Funny Valentine said:
I genuinely appreciate the help, although the part about the noodle soups makes me kinda nervous because I made chicken noodle soup earlier (it's probably okay since I really only drank the soup part) and hearing from other people's experiences makes my own feel a lot less shitty. :)
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You're welcome. :-) You should be ok if you're drinking it, especially if it has the bigger curly noodles. Drinking it from a cup or bowl should make it easier to avoid reflexively sucking, like if you were slurping the broth from a spoon. Just avoid ones with the real fine, skinny, straight noodles, like ramen -- that was how I had my "oh fug, gently... gently!" moment. (I really wanted to eat that Thai ramen soup, after not having eaten much for three days... I was ok, but lesson learned, hehe. Stuck to the big, soft kinds of noodles after that until my stitches were out.) Yeah, it always helps to trade war stories with this kind of stuff, any kind of surgical experience is just an inherently anxious affair, no matter how "nah man nothing gets to me!" one is. And the less stress you have, the easier it is on your body to heal up. Especially for these first couple days, I'd kick back, relax, and just chill out -- you had surgery, you've got a license to have "you" time, take full advantage! In a couple weeks, you'll be back to normal, minus the ticking wisdom tooth timebomb in your jaws.
 
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SCSI said:
You're welcome. :-) You should be ok if you're drinking it, especially if it has the bigger curly noodles. Drinking it from a cup or bowl should make it easier to avoid reflexively sucking, like if you were slurping the broth from a spoon. Just avoid ones with the real fine, skinny, straight noodles, like ramen -- that was how I had my "oh fug, gently... gently!" moment. (I really wanted to eat that Thai ramen soup, after not having eaten much for three days... I was ok, but lesson learned, hehe. Stuck to the big, soft kinds of noodles after that until my stitches were out.) Yeah, it always helps to trade war stories with this kind of stuff, any kind of surgical experience is just an inherently anxious affair, no matter how "nah man nothing gets to me!" one is. And the less stress you have, the easier it is on your body to heal up. Especially for these first couple days, I'd kick back, relax, and just chill out -- you had surgery, you've got a license to have "you" time, take full advantage! In a couple weeks, you'll be back to normal, minus the ticking wisdom tooth timebomb in your jaws.
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I guess the feeling of being unable to properly chew stuff without feeling like an old man with a bear trap for a mouth is the price I gotta pay to get rid of four wisdom teeth (although only one that was really "bothering me" oddly enough). Sooner is better than later, right?

I miss eating chips though... :(
 
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Funny Valentine said:
I guess the feeling of being unable to properly chew stuff without feeling like an old man with a bear trap for a mouth is the price I gotta pay to get rid of four wisdom teeth (although only one that was really "bothering me" oddly enough). Sooner is better than later, right?
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Now remember that feeling any and every time you feel like you can skip flossing/brushing your teeth.
 
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