It seems like wisdom teeth removal is some right of passage to adulthood. For about a year and half we have known my son would need them out. I had tried a couple places to find an oral surgeon last year but then everything shut down with Covid restrictions.
He was finally able to get in and the surgery happened. He ended up having 6 (six!!) of them extracted.
The go home instructions said soft foods diet for 3-4 days. The nurse at the clinic said since he had two on each top, they had to do more work on the tops, he would probably be more sore than usual and for longer.
The surgery went very fast. Check in was at 9, he was done by 10. He was out of it, had gauze in his mouth, and they gave me prescriptions to fill on the way home.
Very important: Do NOT let that novocaine wear off.
I think I could count on one hand the times I’ve been to our regular pharmacy in the last year. This one day, they happened to have a power outage in the store. We had to go to another pharmacy. By the time we got home, the novocaine they gave him had worn off.
I was at a juncture. I didn’t want to give him the pharmaceuticals but he was screaming and cringing in horrific pain. Seven ear surgeries and I’ve never experienced anything like that. It was hard to stand there and watch him and I couldn’t do anything about it.
I am not a proponent of pharmaceuticals but I can also admit that sometimes they have their time and place.
I called the oral surgery clinic and they advised on the dosing since it got so bad with the pharmacy delay.
While we waited for the pain meds to kick in, he had ice packs on his cheeks. I made him a topical pain and anti inflammatory cream to help externally.
I used some of our HempWorx Relief cream, added arnicare cream, essential oils of lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, and roman chamomile.
He put that on his cheeks quite a few times a day.
We put a couple little ice packs into a cooler with a large ice pack. He would do 20 minutes on, put the ice pack into the cooler, 20 minutes later take the other one small ice pack out, and continue to rotate as needed.
TIP: Every dose of any kind of over the counter pill, supplement, or pain med was logged on a piece of paper. The pharmacist said Advil and Tylenol can be alternated so it’s important to remember when you give what. The pain medicine has a bit of Tylenol in it, so do not give Tylenol with the pain meds.
He is still getting his daily cbd, vitamins, and supplements and I added in turmeric and kefir during lunch.
He is using the Bemer on his cheeks to help with the residual soreness and swelling.
Eating has been a bit of a challenge. He says his cheeks hurt and he can’t open his mouth very big. The first few days his diet was chicken bone broth, chicken noodle soup, applesauce, yogurt, pudding, mashed potatoes, and smoothies.
The smoothies are not something I generally like to make a meal, but in this instance, it was a nice way to grind up all kinds of veggies, protein, and fats for a fairly balanced meal.
He did the salt water rinses pretty gentle.
It took a couple days for him to turn black and blue. He was visually swollen. The doctor's office told me he would most likely be more sore for longer due to the extra extractions and the depth of them.
Within a week, he was eating normal and back to his old self.