Aa
NUMB CHIN AND LOWER LIP
HAD LOWER LEFT WISDOM TOOTH OUT TUESDAY AND NOW IT IS SEVEN DAYS LATER AND STILL HAVE LEFT LOWER LIP AND LEFT SIDE OF CHIN NUMBNESS AND FRONT LOWER TEETH AND GUM ON INSIDE ALSO..GOING BACK TO ORAL SURGEON ON THURSDAY TO SEE WHAT HE SAYS..ALSO ALTHOUGH THERE IS THE NUMBNESS I HAVE PERIODIC ITCHING FEELING AND CRAWLEY FEELINGS IN MY CHIN AND LIP, DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE INFERIOR ALVELOAR NERVE DAMAGE..WILL IT GET BETTER IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN TAKE TO HELP THIS SITUATION..THANKS FOR THE HELP
Love your attitude one4love,
Yes life is cool based upon wonderful people we meet which makes us tolerate the pain along the way.
Your story is quite remarkable and hopefully your second time around is much easier and shorter lived in terms of recovery.
Your smiley face is hilarious...love it and everybody here gets it and has been there. :-)_ (mine's on the right side)
Your words are very helpful and Thanks again and heal quickly.
PS: longer term healing is so uncharted in the literature as you know. I read one report of a TN sufferer....TN is the absolute worse for facial pain who was on neuropathic meds for 10 years and then one day she decided to get off them to see what would happen and the pain was gone. No, there is no precise roadmap for this.
Yes life is cool based upon wonderful people we meet which makes us tolerate the pain along the way.
Your story is quite remarkable and hopefully your second time around is much easier and shorter lived in terms of recovery.
Your smiley face is hilarious...love it and everybody here gets it and has been there. :-)_ (mine's on the right side)
Your words are very helpful and Thanks again and heal quickly.
PS: longer term healing is so uncharted in the literature as you know. I read one report of a TN sufferer....TN is the absolute worse for facial pain who was on neuropathic meds for 10 years and then one day she decided to get off them to see what would happen and the pain was gone. No, there is no precise roadmap for this.
Thanks Timeheals! :)
I was worried about the way my message would come off. I'm glad it came across as respectfully as I meant to type it.
That was a great story about who you ran into. Isn't life cool like that? :)
I really can't tell you how long it took because after a while I forgot. It could be the two years that I heard, but I just remember going back to work and telling everyone about it. To keep it lighthearted I remember I'd type smiley faces with a drool. Like this :-)~
I'm telling you that one, because I laughed out loud about it and two because I can remember when I was like, "i can't do that anymore because I can feel over there."
It comes back so slowly after you acquiesce that it's never going to come pack. I would still do my routine of pinching or sticking something into it or flossing my teeth for years after and realize I had no feeling. I really wish I could pinpoint a date, but it just didn't matter after a certain point.
I do remember that two years later I still had some numbness, but you really do just get over it. (i am one who didn't suffer pain, only numbness)
After I realized I was one of the lucky ones because I did have signs of healing I sort of checked out of reading the forum I participated on. It's still funny to think what forums looked like back then. So I would say longer than 2 years, but after that you just don't realize it.
Feeling kept coming back over a decade though. I just didn't notice it or I thought, "no way .. because I was told X would happen and this is not a letter this is more like X2Y3Z8... it doesn't make sense"
I was just by chance that i was rubbing a thread on my chin this year that I was like, "wait? did i really just feel that?" I went over it super soft.. and it was indeed feeling. So this is like 15 years later.
Yes, it is ironic that I celebrate that moment with what just happened this week. :) Gotta love destiny! lol
Oh and no, no doc help.
I was worried about the way my message would come off. I'm glad it came across as respectfully as I meant to type it.
That was a great story about who you ran into. Isn't life cool like that? :)
I really can't tell you how long it took because after a while I forgot. It could be the two years that I heard, but I just remember going back to work and telling everyone about it. To keep it lighthearted I remember I'd type smiley faces with a drool. Like this :-)~
I'm telling you that one, because I laughed out loud about it and two because I can remember when I was like, "i can't do that anymore because I can feel over there."
It comes back so slowly after you acquiesce that it's never going to come pack. I would still do my routine of pinching or sticking something into it or flossing my teeth for years after and realize I had no feeling. I really wish I could pinpoint a date, but it just didn't matter after a certain point.
I do remember that two years later I still had some numbness, but you really do just get over it. (i am one who didn't suffer pain, only numbness)
After I realized I was one of the lucky ones because I did have signs of healing I sort of checked out of reading the forum I participated on. It's still funny to think what forums looked like back then. So I would say longer than 2 years, but after that you just don't realize it.
Feeling kept coming back over a decade though. I just didn't notice it or I thought, "no way .. because I was told X would happen and this is not a letter this is more like X2Y3Z8... it doesn't make sense"
I was just by chance that i was rubbing a thread on my chin this year that I was like, "wait? did i really just feel that?" I went over it super soft.. and it was indeed feeling. So this is like 15 years later.
Yes, it is ironic that I celebrate that moment with what just happened this week. :) Gotta love destiny! lol
Oh and no, no doc help.
Hi Rachael,
I don't know about the tens unit you mention but want to ask, are you in much discomfort? If so, can you describe it?
Are you taking any meds or considered taking any meds to help?
Kind Regards
I don't know about the tens unit you mention but want to ask, are you in much discomfort? If so, can you describe it?
Are you taking any meds or considered taking any meds to help?
Kind Regards
Hi one4love,
Epic post. On one hand, I am sorry you are here but on the other, what perspective you bring and thank you for placing your important thoughts here to broaden perspective. I am the science guy in the thread you are perhaps implicitly referring to ;-) clumsily trying to determine some level of cause of and effect i.e.bring reason to the chaos our lives have been thrown into and you are quite right, when it comes to the regeneration of the nerve there as much unknown as known. The medical literature in fact admits this...nerve generation being referred to as 'embryonic'. The problem with case studies as you say, for every case study there is an example or case as you say that repudiates collective wisdom. So each of us have to be very careful as you say about drawing any conclusions about who will recover or who 'may' not from this...recovery also being perhaps a matter of degree versus absolute but acceptable.
If I may ask a couple of questions please about your recovery the first time.
And of course you went through the same dark despair many of us have and now you have come away recovered from the first time really a stronger lady with the perspective to get through this next episode which sounds like will be less severe.
If you think back, how long did it take for your nerve to recover? I couldn't really tell from what you wrote. Sounds like it was longer than 1 year. Was it more than 2 or even 3 years?
Did you take any sort of meds along the path of recovery to help you cope if not promote healing? Did your doctor(s) place you on any neuropathic drug or anti anxiety med at any period of your recovery?
Now I will share a brief story of an encounter I had the other day. I was out on my bike ride and stopping to refill my water bottles and a couple stopped to ask me for some directions. The man made a comment about my bike...I have a go fast carbon Tour de France level bike as I am heavy into cycling and like to ride long and fast and I told him the bike was a big contributor if he and his wife was interested in riding faster or farther with less fatigue. So he asked me my background and I said mechanical engineering and he said he had an undergraduate in chemical engineering and so we had a bit in common. We talked further and he said he went to grad school and I asked him if he had a PhD in engineering and he said, no, he decided to go to medical school and he had been a surgeon for about 25 years. Nice guy. His wife was by his side and conversation was pleasant and easy and I asked him if he knew much about peripheral nerves and he nodded yes. So I told him my story of my wisdom tooth extraction and related damage to my inferior alveolar nerve and he said he was sorry to hear that and I asked him how long it may take for the nerve to recover. Exactly as I asked, both the woman and man at the same precise time said in unison....two years. I was quite surprised. So I looked at the women who had been mostly listening attentively and I asked, are you a MD as well. And she nodded yes. :-) A surgeon.
Now their story:
The woman went onto say that a few years back she crushed her finger in a door and it required pretty extensive surgery. This is a women who made her living operating on people and she needed the dexterity of her index finger. She said it took two years for her to get the feeling back in her finger which she now has. And then the male doctor told his story. He said a while back he had an intern give him an injection in his arm. Because of her lack of skill...not her fault he said as she was inexperienced, the needle hit a vital nerve in his arm and she injected the nerve and it killed it to a degree. He said he was still recovering from it and neuropathic pain is the 'worst' which many of us know only too well. I asked him if he took anything for it and he said yes. He took Gabapentin and he suggested I take it for my mouth...which btw I am considering in the next ensuing weeks having read about this med before. I asked him if this med slowed him down or affected the other nerves in his body and he said no....it really does target the damaged nerve and he has suffered no side effects.
So I wanted to share this story because not only are these MD's trained to understand the anatomy and recovery of nerves in the body, they actually experienced injury to their peripheral nerves.
I wish you well in recovery one4love now the second time around which is just remarkable and I am so glad you have come here and shared your story. I am still going to try and piece together a framework of coping for myself and those suffering as they heal but yes, none of us will fully understand not only the damage mechanism of the nerve...the dental/medical community clearly doesn't by all that come here and no doubt thousands more that don't find this website.... but ability of the body to restore the nerve as well. All we can do is cope the best we can and devise the best strategies we can...one of which being the strategy of hope that you are so right about.
Epic post. On one hand, I am sorry you are here but on the other, what perspective you bring and thank you for placing your important thoughts here to broaden perspective. I am the science guy in the thread you are perhaps implicitly referring to ;-) clumsily trying to determine some level of cause of and effect i.e.bring reason to the chaos our lives have been thrown into and you are quite right, when it comes to the regeneration of the nerve there as much unknown as known. The medical literature in fact admits this...nerve generation being referred to as 'embryonic'. The problem with case studies as you say, for every case study there is an example or case as you say that repudiates collective wisdom. So each of us have to be very careful as you say about drawing any conclusions about who will recover or who 'may' not from this...recovery also being perhaps a matter of degree versus absolute but acceptable.
If I may ask a couple of questions please about your recovery the first time.
And of course you went through the same dark despair many of us have and now you have come away recovered from the first time really a stronger lady with the perspective to get through this next episode which sounds like will be less severe.
If you think back, how long did it take for your nerve to recover? I couldn't really tell from what you wrote. Sounds like it was longer than 1 year. Was it more than 2 or even 3 years?
Did you take any sort of meds along the path of recovery to help you cope if not promote healing? Did your doctor(s) place you on any neuropathic drug or anti anxiety med at any period of your recovery?
Now I will share a brief story of an encounter I had the other day. I was out on my bike ride and stopping to refill my water bottles and a couple stopped to ask me for some directions. The man made a comment about my bike...I have a go fast carbon Tour de France level bike as I am heavy into cycling and like to ride long and fast and I told him the bike was a big contributor if he and his wife was interested in riding faster or farther with less fatigue. So he asked me my background and I said mechanical engineering and he said he had an undergraduate in chemical engineering and so we had a bit in common. We talked further and he said he went to grad school and I asked him if he had a PhD in engineering and he said, no, he decided to go to medical school and he had been a surgeon for about 25 years. Nice guy. His wife was by his side and conversation was pleasant and easy and I asked him if he knew much about peripheral nerves and he nodded yes. So I told him my story of my wisdom tooth extraction and related damage to my inferior alveolar nerve and he said he was sorry to hear that and I asked him how long it may take for the nerve to recover. Exactly as I asked, both the woman and man at the same precise time said in unison....two years. I was quite surprised. So I looked at the women who had been mostly listening attentively and I asked, are you a MD as well. And she nodded yes. :-) A surgeon.
Now their story:
The woman went onto say that a few years back she crushed her finger in a door and it required pretty extensive surgery. This is a women who made her living operating on people and she needed the dexterity of her index finger. She said it took two years for her to get the feeling back in her finger which she now has. And then the male doctor told his story. He said a while back he had an intern give him an injection in his arm. Because of her lack of skill...not her fault he said as she was inexperienced, the needle hit a vital nerve in his arm and she injected the nerve and it killed it to a degree. He said he was still recovering from it and neuropathic pain is the 'worst' which many of us know only too well. I asked him if he took anything for it and he said yes. He took Gabapentin and he suggested I take it for my mouth...which btw I am considering in the next ensuing weeks having read about this med before. I asked him if this med slowed him down or affected the other nerves in his body and he said no....it really does target the damaged nerve and he has suffered no side effects.
So I wanted to share this story because not only are these MD's trained to understand the anatomy and recovery of nerves in the body, they actually experienced injury to their peripheral nerves.
I wish you well in recovery one4love now the second time around which is just remarkable and I am so glad you have come here and shared your story. I am still going to try and piece together a framework of coping for myself and those suffering as they heal but yes, none of us will fully understand not only the damage mechanism of the nerve...the dental/medical community clearly doesn't by all that come here and no doubt thousands more that don't find this website.... but ability of the body to restore the nerve as well. All we can do is cope the best we can and devise the best strategies we can...one of which being the strategy of hope that you are so right about.
Has anyone used a tens unit? My acupuncturist (who stuck 50 needles in my chin last time) told me to try one. My mom just happened to have one for different nerve issues, so I am using it for the first time right now. Who knows!
Crossing my fingers and toes. This has been a long 15 months!
Crossing my fingers and toes. This has been a long 15 months!
I never thought I'd participate in a conversation like this again. :) I had what I've read as my panic moment back in 1998/9. There was no great google search. I believe I stumbled upon a site because of altaVista.
Short older history. I had my wisdom teeth taken out back then and I ignorantly thought of it as a tooth extraction. I found myself coming down off of the high of the knocked me out drug, but i noticed the numbness wasn't going away. I remember even tapping my nose with my finger and feeling the numbness.
OMG did I freak when I woke up the next morning and it was still numb. I felt horrible for myself despite reading about all the folks with pain associated with this problem. I was so bummed. I'd never kiss again or whistle or be able to drink.
Fast forward .. just one > not two >> :) and so I was able to get most of the feeling back X amount of months after, but there was a kind of round'ish patch that I'd bite off a fingernail and bump it up against the skin to sort of go, "whoa.. still can't feel that .. but at least I feel the pressure".
I love going to the dentist for cleanings on that side, "Do your worst!" I would think and i wouldn't flinch at all, but then they'd get to the other side and I'd feel like I should cry. :)
Fast forward > just one. I noticed that sensations of healing were still coming. I couldn't remember the last time I'd read a forum or even cared, but I just marveled at the remembrance of people explaining how nerves can figure out how to simulate regeneration even if the regeneration is not there.
Fast forward > to about a year ago when I realized that although I was in the 90th percentile of numbness being gone, that it was indeed all gone. No more feeling like i was dribbling or water slipping out of my mouth I was healed.
Fast forward > Stop ... This Tuesday. Pain in the third molar left side that I'd ignored forever. Molar .. needle.. nerve.. no please :) Although I wasn't consciously thinking that I can see now, "Ohhhh yeah you were". :) The pain would flair up when I'd get upset or if I'd chew something hot on that side.
Originally the doc was going to let me go (OS) and then I said something that sort of troubled him and so he examined me further and decided to see what was under the tooth. Voila! Broken filling and possible infection. I spare you the rest up to EXTREME PAIN from the nerve. It hurt so bad. 13 hours until I was in the chair again.
Not only did we do extraction, but we went for implant beginning procedures as well. As the novocaine wore off I was like, "uh oh" :) Since I'm here I bet you've guessed it.
This time however it's my left side. My lip is numb past the halfway point and all of the other wonderful goodies we've all read about in this thread. My doctor was looking for the nerve, but didn't see it when he was doing the implant and the implant isn't even as far down as the roots of the tooth.
I feel tingling and I know this won't be as bad as the first time I was participating in this rodeo, but like blessed said, "everything happens for a reason". I'm so glad I read this thread because I haven't seen anyone who is a 1998-1999 survivor of this. :) Do I get a card or a gold star? :)
I think the advice I would give is almost as darn close as people have done for almost a decade in this thread. I will disagree with the agists though. For those who are looking for data please take that with a grain of (insert X). There are not enough cases studied in a scientific environment with regards to iAN (we totally didn't use the acronym back then) to prove age means your nerves age slower.
Please don't anyone waste their time trying to prove it to me. Just like people say they can't prove God here, you can't prove to me that there has been enough proof regarding the study of nerves with regards to iAN to prove they are factually based.
Since you've found this page let me share this with you. You need hope right now. Disregard anything negative because if I'd listened to those who diagnosed my recovery probability I'd still be numb on the other side. Miracles happen a lot more than people give them credit for and trust me having your nerves regenerate or simulate regeneration isn't like parting the Red Sea or finding someone alive after being lost at sea and they are still alive years later.
The pain, depression, saddness, and fear are real though. I went through them. I accept my positive words surrounded by so much reality of actual people ranked by age, condition, type of extraction, sex, etc. All of that has to say something valuable, no? Yes, it does indeed.
With all of these posts though you have to remember that none of them are you. You've been up against crazy odds before and you can again get your life back by focusing on using the power of your mind to help in the regeneration of those nerves. You cannot see what it will do, but I guarantee it can happen. It might not happen as quickly as you'd like, but I guarantee you it can happen.
Hahaha.. after I said that I felt a little numbness under my lip turn into a tingle from deadness. My hand to go, that just happened.
I'm back with you all on the road to regeneration and I'm telling you if you've recently found this site please make sure you read that those who may even sound like they are saying, "you may never" or "it may never" or anything that sounds negative that they are not being negative. They are being realistic.
I'm sort of like a female Willy Wonka who like blessed also believes in God because of the miracles that have happened in my life. How blessed am I to have this happen to me twice? Well, until today I wasn't sure, but if I can light a candle of home for those who like me in my panic period are googling for life. Then I'm happy this happened to me.
There were hours of sadness when I look back at it (boy .. I'm going to keep typing because tingling happened again a little further to the right of the previous tingle) :)
My point is that in retrospect the amount of sad I felt timewise versus the amount of happy positive though I came away with from this experience. The time doesn't even compare. You can recover from this and when you put your mind to it and focus on nerve regeneration I'm a living witness to the power of the mind (even during this post).
What was the movie, "Shawshank Redepemtion" -- 'get busy living or get busy dying' .. I'm suggesting strongly that you tell your nerves to get busy living and then trust it will happen. If you have a faith you believe in then supercharge it with that and most of all remember to love.
Blessed.. thanks for your posts at the tail end of this. I was just reading and shaking my head at things I read and I was going to stay out of the "it's your age" talk, but I decided to weigh in with an experienced take on it AND from someone who is back in the pool and still feels like, "ok, what do i have to do tomorrow?" versus "oh, why me". I've been there, done that, and I've got the t-shirt. :)
Cheers everyone and thanks to one and all for contributing to this VERY important thread.
Short older history. I had my wisdom teeth taken out back then and I ignorantly thought of it as a tooth extraction. I found myself coming down off of the high of the knocked me out drug, but i noticed the numbness wasn't going away. I remember even tapping my nose with my finger and feeling the numbness.
OMG did I freak when I woke up the next morning and it was still numb. I felt horrible for myself despite reading about all the folks with pain associated with this problem. I was so bummed. I'd never kiss again or whistle or be able to drink.
Fast forward .. just one > not two >> :) and so I was able to get most of the feeling back X amount of months after, but there was a kind of round'ish patch that I'd bite off a fingernail and bump it up against the skin to sort of go, "whoa.. still can't feel that .. but at least I feel the pressure".
I love going to the dentist for cleanings on that side, "Do your worst!" I would think and i wouldn't flinch at all, but then they'd get to the other side and I'd feel like I should cry. :)
Fast forward > just one. I noticed that sensations of healing were still coming. I couldn't remember the last time I'd read a forum or even cared, but I just marveled at the remembrance of people explaining how nerves can figure out how to simulate regeneration even if the regeneration is not there.
Fast forward > to about a year ago when I realized that although I was in the 90th percentile of numbness being gone, that it was indeed all gone. No more feeling like i was dribbling or water slipping out of my mouth I was healed.
Fast forward > Stop ... This Tuesday. Pain in the third molar left side that I'd ignored forever. Molar .. needle.. nerve.. no please :) Although I wasn't consciously thinking that I can see now, "Ohhhh yeah you were". :) The pain would flair up when I'd get upset or if I'd chew something hot on that side.
Originally the doc was going to let me go (OS) and then I said something that sort of troubled him and so he examined me further and decided to see what was under the tooth. Voila! Broken filling and possible infection. I spare you the rest up to EXTREME PAIN from the nerve. It hurt so bad. 13 hours until I was in the chair again.
Not only did we do extraction, but we went for implant beginning procedures as well. As the novocaine wore off I was like, "uh oh" :) Since I'm here I bet you've guessed it.
This time however it's my left side. My lip is numb past the halfway point and all of the other wonderful goodies we've all read about in this thread. My doctor was looking for the nerve, but didn't see it when he was doing the implant and the implant isn't even as far down as the roots of the tooth.
I feel tingling and I know this won't be as bad as the first time I was participating in this rodeo, but like blessed said, "everything happens for a reason". I'm so glad I read this thread because I haven't seen anyone who is a 1998-1999 survivor of this. :) Do I get a card or a gold star? :)
I think the advice I would give is almost as darn close as people have done for almost a decade in this thread. I will disagree with the agists though. For those who are looking for data please take that with a grain of (insert X). There are not enough cases studied in a scientific environment with regards to iAN (we totally didn't use the acronym back then) to prove age means your nerves age slower.
Please don't anyone waste their time trying to prove it to me. Just like people say they can't prove God here, you can't prove to me that there has been enough proof regarding the study of nerves with regards to iAN to prove they are factually based.
Since you've found this page let me share this with you. You need hope right now. Disregard anything negative because if I'd listened to those who diagnosed my recovery probability I'd still be numb on the other side. Miracles happen a lot more than people give them credit for and trust me having your nerves regenerate or simulate regeneration isn't like parting the Red Sea or finding someone alive after being lost at sea and they are still alive years later.
The pain, depression, saddness, and fear are real though. I went through them. I accept my positive words surrounded by so much reality of actual people ranked by age, condition, type of extraction, sex, etc. All of that has to say something valuable, no? Yes, it does indeed.
With all of these posts though you have to remember that none of them are you. You've been up against crazy odds before and you can again get your life back by focusing on using the power of your mind to help in the regeneration of those nerves. You cannot see what it will do, but I guarantee it can happen. It might not happen as quickly as you'd like, but I guarantee you it can happen.
Hahaha.. after I said that I felt a little numbness under my lip turn into a tingle from deadness. My hand to go, that just happened.
I'm back with you all on the road to regeneration and I'm telling you if you've recently found this site please make sure you read that those who may even sound like they are saying, "you may never" or "it may never" or anything that sounds negative that they are not being negative. They are being realistic.
I'm sort of like a female Willy Wonka who like blessed also believes in God because of the miracles that have happened in my life. How blessed am I to have this happen to me twice? Well, until today I wasn't sure, but if I can light a candle of home for those who like me in my panic period are googling for life. Then I'm happy this happened to me.
There were hours of sadness when I look back at it (boy .. I'm going to keep typing because tingling happened again a little further to the right of the previous tingle) :)
My point is that in retrospect the amount of sad I felt timewise versus the amount of happy positive though I came away with from this experience. The time doesn't even compare. You can recover from this and when you put your mind to it and focus on nerve regeneration I'm a living witness to the power of the mind (even during this post).
What was the movie, "Shawshank Redepemtion" -- 'get busy living or get busy dying' .. I'm suggesting strongly that you tell your nerves to get busy living and then trust it will happen. If you have a faith you believe in then supercharge it with that and most of all remember to love.
Blessed.. thanks for your posts at the tail end of this. I was just reading and shaking my head at things I read and I was going to stay out of the "it's your age" talk, but I decided to weigh in with an experienced take on it AND from someone who is back in the pool and still feels like, "ok, what do i have to do tomorrow?" versus "oh, why me". I've been there, done that, and I've got the t-shirt. :)
Cheers everyone and thanks to one and all for contributing to this VERY important thread.
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