Numb chin syndrome
I have two pieces of good news:
a) I managed to deliver the family tax returns to Front Street last night in the nick of time (11:40pm),
b) I can report some noticeable progress in my wisdom tooth extraction saga.
As a matter of fact the name of today's post reflects this change. I can declare the actual paresthesia more or less gone. To be specific, there is no more spontaneous and ongoing tingling or prickly jabs, which means that my nights at least are peaceful.
The rest of the problem is far from being gone, though. The left side of my chin still feels numb, half frozen, and the corner of my lip is still very sensitive to any touch, almost as if it was an open wound. The most dramatic sensation is whenever I have to use my muscles is that area, like puckering up or shifting a food item from side to side. In the very centre of the left side of the chin I have a small tumor-like lump, about 5mm in diameter. It is just barely palpable when I spread the area by smiling. But this is the spot that is the most "frozen", and when I do the above described movements, it feels much larger and is a source of quite a bit of discomfort.
Above this lump radiates out a triangle, one side of which takes up about two thirds of my left lower lip. This area is very sensitive, and often I have a sensation of hot and cold at the same time in it. I do have memories of a bad burn I had once when I splashed boiling water on my thigh. The area was red and extremely sensitive to the touch for quite a while even after the skin surface healed. Most probably that was also caused by peripheral nerve damage which took a long time to heal. If I recall, the sensation was very similar to this one.
Part of the change is another not very pleasant development: the bony areas of the jaw, including my teeth, became painful this week. Two teeth in particular that were treated not too long ago started to "complain", though not exclusively those. There are occasional sharp jabs of pain, or pulsing waves of pain, or sometimes as if the whole area was pinched in a gradually tightening clamp. Most of the time I can bear it, but there were times when I needed to take two or three painkillers over the course of the day.
In summery, it is not fun... But if I look at it from a perspective, I definitely see that things are going in the right direction. Actually, when I sit still, not moving my mouth, I can almost feel normal for short periods of time. :)
I don't know whether the improvement is due to my extra vitamin intake or it would have come about anyway. Of course, I like to think that it helps because doing so makes me feel more in control. Either way, I hope these posts of mine will provide some reassurance to people who are here, reading them because they are fellow sufferers who also fear the future.
I am still not sure what lies ahead. The numbness may stay for a long time, it may even be permanent. But I intend to record here everything, and hope that people with interest in this topic for whatever reason can get a better understanding of the problem by reading about my experiences.
a) I managed to deliver the family tax returns to Front Street last night in the nick of time (11:40pm),
b) I can report some noticeable progress in my wisdom tooth extraction saga.
As a matter of fact the name of today's post reflects this change. I can declare the actual paresthesia more or less gone. To be specific, there is no more spontaneous and ongoing tingling or prickly jabs, which means that my nights at least are peaceful.
The rest of the problem is far from being gone, though. The left side of my chin still feels numb, half frozen, and the corner of my lip is still very sensitive to any touch, almost as if it was an open wound. The most dramatic sensation is whenever I have to use my muscles is that area, like puckering up or shifting a food item from side to side. In the very centre of the left side of the chin I have a small tumor-like lump, about 5mm in diameter. It is just barely palpable when I spread the area by smiling. But this is the spot that is the most "frozen", and when I do the above described movements, it feels much larger and is a source of quite a bit of discomfort.
Above this lump radiates out a triangle, one side of which takes up about two thirds of my left lower lip. This area is very sensitive, and often I have a sensation of hot and cold at the same time in it. I do have memories of a bad burn I had once when I splashed boiling water on my thigh. The area was red and extremely sensitive to the touch for quite a while even after the skin surface healed. Most probably that was also caused by peripheral nerve damage which took a long time to heal. If I recall, the sensation was very similar to this one.
Part of the change is another not very pleasant development: the bony areas of the jaw, including my teeth, became painful this week. Two teeth in particular that were treated not too long ago started to "complain", though not exclusively those. There are occasional sharp jabs of pain, or pulsing waves of pain, or sometimes as if the whole area was pinched in a gradually tightening clamp. Most of the time I can bear it, but there were times when I needed to take two or three painkillers over the course of the day.
In summery, it is not fun... But if I look at it from a perspective, I definitely see that things are going in the right direction. Actually, when I sit still, not moving my mouth, I can almost feel normal for short periods of time. :)
I don't know whether the improvement is due to my extra vitamin intake or it would have come about anyway. Of course, I like to think that it helps because doing so makes me feel more in control. Either way, I hope these posts of mine will provide some reassurance to people who are here, reading them because they are fellow sufferers who also fear the future.
I am still not sure what lies ahead. The numbness may stay for a long time, it may even be permanent. But I intend to record here everything, and hope that people with interest in this topic for whatever reason can get a better understanding of the problem by reading about my experiences.
posted by Fecho | 12:23 AM
3 Comments:
Hey thanks a lot for your updates. I am 38 years old and I had my wisdom teeth removed on 18 Jan 2012 (thats like five days ago). My lower mouth was basically numb the first two days but as am writing this the only area that i feel numbness is at the lower lip and chin area. I have that tingly and crawly feeling that I have read people talking about which is a good sign (I hope) I do hope to improve as soon as possible. Thanks for your blog. I am thinking of getting the multivitamin tablets too to speed up the process.
Hey thanks a lot for your updates. I am 38 years old and I had my wisdom teeth removed on 18 Jan 2012 (thats like five days ago). My lower mouth was basically numb the first two days but as am writing this the only area that i feel numbness is at the lower lip and chin area. I have that tingly and crawly feeling that I have read people talking about which is a good sign (I hope) I do hope to improve as soon as possible. Thanks for your blog. I am thinking of getting the multivitamin tablets too to speed up the process.
Hey thanks a lot for your updates. I am 38 years old and I had my wisdom teeth removed on 18 Jan 2012 (thats like five days ago). My lower mouth was basically numb the first two days but as am writing this the only area that i feel numbness is at the lower lip and chin area. I have that tingly and crawly feeling that I have read people talking about which is a good sign (I hope) I do hope to improve as soon as possible. Thanks for your blog. I am thinking of getting the multivitamin tablets too to speed up the process.
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