LAST EDITED ON Sep-04-07 AT 07:12 PM (CST)
 
Hi everyone.. I hope I'm posting in the right spot.

Just thought I'd join in the group. I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed under general anaesthetic in July so it's been a bit over a month since then.

The first thing I noticed when all the local anaesthetics had worn off properly - in the middle of the night - was an extreme pain when I moved my tongue. It was so bad, it burned really horribly, and I could hardly move my tongue at all. I assumed that it was just that they had pulled or clamped my tongue and that it was just a pulled muscle. After a few days I realised that the sensation was not what I would expect of a bruise - it was actually numb to touch despite the pain.

Fortunately, once the swelling of my wisdom teeth went down I actually got most of my movement back on my tongue, and so the pain isn't as linked to my tongue movement as it was during that week. So it got a bit better after about 7 days - before then I could barely do anything. But since that time that the movement aspect of it improved, nothing else has changed - it's still the same sensation it's always been and no feeling has come back. It's like a literal split down the centre line of my tongue - everything on the left is numb (including the gum) except for this patch near the tip that often tingles. Sometimes it feels like it's really hot or cold, sometimes it feels like it is bubbling. It also feels really unpleasant when I eat salty things like fries. I don't think I really have any taste on that side either.

It's pretty depressing. My oral surgeon didn't want to make any guarantees that it would get better. I do hate the fact that I can CONSTANTLY feel it, but actually I suppose I can tolerate it most of the time. Although it gets hard to talk without a lisp when I'm really tired, and that can be frustrating. But actually, what I find more debilitating than the nerve damage is that my jaw is still really stiff - I can only open my mouth a few centimetres wide. So I can only eat stuff like sandwiches by shoving them into my narrow little mouth, rather than actually taking a bite, if that makes sense. Does anyone else have that? Is it related to the nerve or just another side effect of the wisdom teeth? The saddest thing at the moment, as well as having trouble eating, is that I can't really play my clarinet properly anymore and I don't know what is causing that, I just can't get my mouth around the mouthpiece enough, air keeps coming out the sides. Sigh....

Anyway, I look forward to hearing more about your experiences, it's great finding so many others like me (although sucks knowing it's that common too)