My Poor Brother!
23 Sep
Brother #1 had his wisdom teeth pulled on Friday. They had been hurting a lot, and truly needed to come out. I called to check on him Friday after the surgery. After my ordeal, I was nervous for him, although he had a good oral surgeon and he was put under. Mom said he was fine.
The next morning, I called the house and learned that he’d had an awful night. Well, he and my parents had an awful night. Brother #1 was in extreme pain and had starting swelling. They’d used lots of ice and he’d been taking the pain medicine as prescribed.
In the middle of the night, my father finally had to call the surgeon. The surgeon said that since Brother #1 is so young and athletic (He’s a personal trainer.) he was probably metabolizing the pain medicine too quickly. He instructed my parents to give Brother #1 the pain medicine every 3 hours instead of every 4-6 hours and to also give him Ibuprofen.
While this helped, it didn’t really solve the problem. When I saw Brother #1 on Saturday and Sunday, I almost threw up and cried. I know what that feels like! My poor brother! My poor mother getting up every three hours to give him the medicine! His face was so swollen, it looked like he’d gained 100 pounds. He took a picture of himself with his phone. I’ll have to ask him if I can publish it here.
Monday the nurse treated him with medicated packing for dry socket on one side. He felt better, but that’s not saying much. Plus, he was still so swollen! Tuesday he saw the oral surgeon who packed the other side. And get this. The surgeon said the swelling is from Brother #1 clenching and grinding his teeth! He told him he’s got to relax! Gah!!!
He has had some jaw trouble in the past, so we knew he must be clenching and grinding his teeth, just like his sister. The surgeon took him off the pain medicine and has him just taking Ibuprofen for the swelling. He wants him to use heat, not ice, to relax the muscles. The packing comes out next week. Hopefully the swelling will go away.
My poor brother! I know exactly how he feels!
OH, your poor brother indeed! Poor thing. I was VERY blessed not to have ANY complications from getting my wisdom teeth out. All four out at once, and 2 were deeply impacted. I swelled a little, but nothing too horrible.
I wonder if the TMJ thing is genetic, or if it’s just family traits, like Type A personality, high-strung, whatever. I have TMJ, but nothing to the extent you do, my dear! I clench my teeth, but if I wear my bite splint every night I don’t have jaw problems. My goodness…
Have you ever tried a night guard that just sits on your bottom front teeth? One problem I found I had is that my teeth would hurt after having a bite splint for a certain amount of time. My new dentist did one for me and he just puts it across the front bottom 6 teeth or so. It is SO comfortable!
How is David doing today? When do you get the Humira?
Keep us posted on your dear brother. When did you have yours out?
Love you guys.
I dont’ know if TMJD is genetic, but I’ve got a whole new set of questions for Dr. Bender! I see him Tuesday. I used to have an NTI, the kind of appliance that sits only on a few front teeth. It was the first time I got real relief. Unfortunately, I bit two NTIs in half in my sleep, so I’m back to the more traditional night guard that covers all the bottom teeth. David is okay. I’ll post about the Humira tonight! I had my wisdom teeth out when I was 17. I just hope Brothers 2 & 3 don’t need their wisdom teeth pulled!
Hi Ashley. Was it really effective that instead of ice, heat must be applied to relax the muscles?
Emily Lewis
Oh no it’s really painful and I feel sad for your poor brother. As for other people, aside from taking pain reliever, you can ease or stop the pain by making number of pressure points in the face area. All I knew was to use cold compress to relax the muscles and never knew that hot compress can be used too. Was it more effective than the cold one? I want to try it when I need it.