A brief summary of my experience:
Months 1 & 2 - Miserable! My chin/lip/gums were completely numb on left side yet burned and throbbed - something that is a foreign concept to anyone who hasn't experienced it. The area where my tooth was pulled was no problem compared to the rest of my face. If I rubbed my cheek, I felt it in my nose, if I rubbed my neck, I felt it near my eye - my nerves were really messed up. It was 8 weeks before I could open my mouth all of the way and eat without bleeding from chewing my lip or gum. I didn't take any medication except Vicadin the first few weeks at night. I did ask my OS for some pain medication but he said there wasn't anything (more on him later...). On the other hand, I teach engineering and given the side effects I've read about some of the pain medications, I don't know if I would have take them anyways. (Would be hard to teach this material with a fuzzy head) But it would have been nice to know I had the choice.

Months 3 & 4 - It seemed that once my jaw finished healing (found out later I had TMJ), I first started feeling a bit of temperature difference in my chin. All along I had some random zapping and bug crawling feelings so I hoped that there was some chance of healing without surgery. Further into these months I started to be able to feel some light touching on my chin. Then had that crazy feeling that cold water was being poured down my chin whenever I drank anything cold or breathed cold air. Then my chin and part of my gums were hypersensitive for a few weeks - very painful but a good healing sign.

Month 5 - Nothing much seemed to be changing. Very frustrated since the 6th month was coming up. All along I had been taking vitamins and other supplements but decided to try laser therapy. Started that at end of 5th month.

Month 6 & 7 - Had laser therapy 3 times a week for these two months. Was also having big problems with my neck and jaw on left side. Chirpractor said he saw obvious drooping in my left lip/chin, and I was still slurring my speech a bit. My chin still hurt when I talked much (which I do a lot for work). He helped my neck/jaw problems immensely and during by the end of these two months, my chin was feeling much more normal. Stil had a rather large area under my lip that was still numb. My lip itself started the healing process.

One thing I've learned is that the healing process is painful. I have noticed various areas go from being numb to sensitive to temperature, then acquiring some feeling then getting very sensitive and painful for some time (weeks at least), then they seem to quiet down. I think this is part of what makes healing from this kind of injury so difficult - healing is supposed to make you feel better, not feel more pain.

Month 8 & 9 - Very frustrated again - saw very little progress. Lip very painful and sensitive, numb area under lip very stiff and burning. Forget kissing husband (again - he's been amazingly patient).

Month 10 - Progress! Lip stopped hurting - seems almost normal. Chin is feeling good (sensation not normal but not bothersome). Area under lip still stiff and numb but just annoying. And, best of all, my lower left front teeth don't hurt anymore!!!! I think that was one of the more painful and uncomfortable symptoms.

Month 11 - Here we go again - now the numb area under my lip seems to be getting smaller - easier to move but now is in the painful stage. Some days it just burns and throbs and I have to keep reminding myself that this pain is a good sign.

Month 12 - Pretty much the same as month 11 but for the past two days, less burning and throbbing. There is still a small patch of numb/stiff area under lip so expecting that it will go through the healing process, too.

So, I am getting there. I still can't believe that a year has gone by and I'm still dealing with this. One interesting observation of mine has been that if I wake up in the middle of the night, my symptoms are always much milder. By now, if I wake during the night when my face is relaxed, I feel almost normal. If I move my mouth/chin, the numb part is still a bit stiff but doesn't hurt. I still don't understand why this is the case but I look at it like this is a preview of how it can be all of the time in the future.

As for my OS, and I have read a lot of postings about them lately, I don't see him anymore. Last time I saw him was in July and he gleefully (not kidding), said that I will probably have a permanent injury in the area under my lip since it was still numb. I wanted to kick him , well, punch him in the lip. Before that I never even though of sueing him or anything - I know that this type of injury can happen. I don't even want an apology from him, just some acknowledgement and empathy. And, it would have helped a lot to get some sort of direction from him on what I could do to help the healing process. Thank goodness for all of you, and your help, and everything I learned on here and through other research. I couldn't just sit back and wait passively for this injury to heal - not my style. Here is a list of everything I've taken and done to help the healing. I don't know what has helped, and what didn't. I just know that i am still making progress after a year so I am not going to change anything I am doing until I am all better.

Supplements: Multivitamin, St. John's Wort, B-12, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Green Tea Extract

Laser Therapy - Still going once a week and plan on continuing that until at least July. The Chiropractor keeps an eye on my neck/jaw since I still sleep in a weird position (often the sheet/pillow tickle or irritate my chin/lip so I tend to try to hang my face off my arm or the edge of a pillow)

Heat therapy - Warm towels seem to help the burning - have also read that this can increase the blood flow to the area

Self-therapy/exercise - A couple of times a day I stretch my jaw/mouth/chin around, purse(?) my lips, and basically do anything that feels uncomfortable. I also lightly rub my chin/lip on both sides of my face and concentrate on how it feels. (I don't know how much this all helps but like I said, something is working.)

To all of you with new injuries, hang in there. Be strong and positive. When I am getting down about this injury, I think about people with much worse nerve injuries (like in your spine) - in comparison, this is small.

Happy New Year to all!
Catherine