facial numbness

[cjay202]

The left side of my face felt wierd(stiff, tingling) one evening and when i woke up the next morning the whole left side was tingling and gradually became numb during the day., the numbness moved from my jaw to my lower lip and back again, this have never happened before and i have no idea what to do?  I banged my head very hard about a week and a half prior to this - could it have something to do with this?  Can wisdom teeth cause this problem as that is what i was told by one person but i have not been having any problems in the dental area so not sure if this would explain it.

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Thank you for your question. Although without being able to examine you I can not offer you the specific advice on diagnosis and treatment that you need, but I would try to provide you some relevant information about your health concern.

This may be Trigeminal neuralgia as you have typical one sided facial pain extending to temple and sore gums of the jaw/lips of same side (maxillary branch of 5th nerve). Trigeminal neuralgia may have a triggering factor like recent history of tooth extraction, touch, cold breeze or hot sensation etc. which you need to evaluate and avoid. Drug of choice for trigeminal neuralgia is carbamazepine but as the dose may vary according to severity therefore I would advise an oral medicine specialist consultation or at least a physician to confirm this diagnosis and get you treated accordingly. Take care.

[opinmin]

You need to be assessed by a physician asap; do not let this problem go.  No MRI or CT after "banging your head really hard?  

I doubt it is a wisdom tooth causing the problem unless you have some kind of infection causing swelling in your mouth pushing on nerve endings.

See a physician asap.