Concerned about jaw pain

Hey all almost 6 weeks since surgery and yesterday and today my jaw/tooth pain has suddenly gotten much worse. I did have a long day yesterday taking care of my daughter then working for a couple of hours last night. Jaw/ tooth pain has been normal up until now, general soreness at the end of the day but better when I wake up in the morning. Last night pain was worse than usual I could barely touch my teeth together without wincing. Waking up today it wasn’t any better and has only gotten worse even though I have been resting all day. I’m starting to get concerned that something could be wrong but I also wonder if I’m just overreacting. Thanks for all your help.

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It’s normal to worry when you have a set back…it sounds like you may well have overdone things & that might take a few days to settle down…Lots of members have had soreness with their jaw after surgery as sometimes it has to be partially dislocated so obvs that upsets it. Did you have tooth pain before surgery? I wonder if it’s to do with your jaw or nerve pain, either way it could have been aggravated after surgery & then upset by lifting your daughter about. If it bothers you alot it might be worth looking into nerve pain meds?
I hope that it does settle down very soon, but you are still in the early days of recovery in the scheme of things so try not to worry :hugs: :pray:

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I have had jaw and tooth pain on that side for several years now. The pain seems to be only my top back tooth this time which is capped. The pain hasn’t gotten any better so I did go to PCP for nerve pain meds. I’m going to get the tooth looked at to be sure it’s not a tooth issue.

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@Rickstarbird,

I totally agree w/ Jules. At 6 weeks post op, I overdid it physically in a major way which flared symptoms & set my recovery back by some days/weeks.

Recovery from this surgery is a 3 steps forward, 2 steps back process (which is forward healing progress, albeit, slow forward progress). It’s not all straight forward as we would hope. As nerves heal they can cause additional pain as they wake up & that can last for days before they calm down again. Also, since your trigeminal nerve pain has been a problem for several years, that alone may cause the nerve to take months to heal, & it may be more vulnerable to flaring up on days when you overdo it. Ice can sometimes help & if not ice, then heat.

I’m glad you got nerve pain meds to help while things heal. Remember they can take a few weeks to really start helping so don’t despair if you don’t get instant relief when you start taking them.

Patience is the name of this game, & I expect that’s hard for you right now when you’re juggling a baby & probably lack of sleep along w/ healing from a major surgery. Try to give yourself some down time every day as that will help your body heal faster. :gift_heart: :blush: :pray:

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@Isaiah_40_31 Overdoing it is my middle name! Unfortunately I get that trait from my Dad but I’m working hard to overcome that flaw. Luckily this time it turned out to be a bad tooth! One of capped teeth on the same side developed an infection under the cap. Luckily it should be resolved completely with antibiotics! Thanks again for all the advice and support!

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That’s good you’ve found out what the issue is, hope that it gets better soon!

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Glad it’s a simple fix, @Rickstarbird. Good call going to the dentist!!

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