I can feel everything now internally and my teeth are about 90% better from a brushing persepctive (no sensitivity). before a little brush used to touch them and i couldn't stand it.

the outside little square is so bloody sensitive. the professor seemed to think that this was a positive sign - I bloody well hope so.

My GP told me about this neuro nearby who was the only one who would look at a case that all others had dismissed - his intervention and proper management helped the person immensely.

Bumped up to 600mg of Tegretol now.....we have a holiday tomorrow. I'd love to sleep through the whole thing.

will keep you posted. how are you going?

weather hasn't affected it, things have been the same here for the past month, but the pain is mounting.

If an individual is suffering complete numbness do they still feel pain externally to touch etc? I have difficulty quantifying my injury.....even the professor said it was unusual given that I have both motor and sensory function yet a unbelievable sensitivity in one specific area.

I think the benchmark of how i am is how sensitive it is when I shave......it has been difficult lately. Also have found that when anything cold gets swilled on the affected side internally the nerve does not like it.

I can gargle, swill, rinse etc with hot/warm anything and it feels as good on the affected side as it does on the normal.

It's greek easter this weekend. Kalo Pasqua to all - will be saying a prayer to the almighty on behalf of all of you.

Steve

You can be numb and in pain at the same time. This is called Anesthesia Dolorosa.

It also appears that you have Allodynia. This is a painful response to a usually non-painful stimulus.

I hope you find relief soon. Take care and enjoy your weekend.

T

I'm also able to brush my teeth on the numb side and can feel most of my gum now...but my chin continues to be incredibly sensitive to light touches. How can a person describe how it feels?? I touch it lightly and these little shoots of 'something' go through it...if I push hard on it, though, it feels hard underneath and no more 'little shoots'. I've said this before, but I can not imagine how men can possibly shave with this condition....if I have an itch in my chin, I have to 'scratch' it by rubbing my chin on my shirt sleeve. Using my fingernails to scratch just drives me crazy.

Anyway, happy Easter to you...does "kalo pasqua" mean Happy Easter? Thanks for the prayer....you've added so much to this forum and I've learned alot from your posts. I'm so sorry you have to go through this, but maybe it's making all of us stronger in some way? I know this has changed my life..in many ways..some good and some bad.

I'd still rather it not have happened though...lol..even if God's hand was in this..wink* WHY oh why do I have such trouble accepting things I can not change?

well described with respect to the chin......I feel exactly the same and the shaving is a nightmare. I have an olive complexion and quite heavy growth so as you can imagine it ain't the easiest thing to contemplate - in fact i dread it regularly when the time comes to undertake a shaving adventure....I now have to set aside 30 mins and i think its the only thing between my family and I that causes some mirth with respect to this injury.

At least i can smile now without any pain, for 2 months that wasn't the case.....speaking of which can anyone direct me to a website or advise some oral exercise to get the jaw functioning properly again. I can open my mouth without excessive pain now but my jaw on the affected side feels quite tight.

Yes....easter it is for the Greeks - will be dining on a whole lamb tomorrow cooked on a spit and cannot wait - sorry for the vego's out there.

Water on my chin is fine - when it hits one of my teeth under the shower it gets very sensitive......it is extremely strange because when I either drink or wash my face the same tooth is not affected.

Not having a good day today. Dark and dreary here too!!.

Have taken the papers and lying in bed, trying not to answer the phone if I can manage it.

And I thought things were improving two weeks ago......in the words of costanza, 'serenity now!!!!!!'

In the first few weeks, I used to massage my chin throughout the day...not anymore! Lately, I've felt a few tiny spikes of pain very rarely in my chin and lip...it's like pin pricks inside. This is the first time I've mentioned it because I'm sort of in denial, I guess. I don't even want to think that I'm going to have a new type of pain in the last weeks of recovery...so I'm hoping these don't happen more often.

Are you having a good weekend? We have a sunny day finally...I'm getting some weeds pulled and planted a few flowers.

http://www.atlantadentist.com/TMJ_exercises.html

http://www.stevedds.com/jaw_exercises.htm

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/32/45.cfm

www.nnuh.nhs.uk/viewdoc.asp?ID=382&t=Leaflet

http://www.smiledentalcentre.com/AdviceLeaflets/JawExercises.htm

I went to a 'sheep roast' on a farm here last summer..it was cooked on a spit over coals in the ground. It was amazing to watch...and the old farmers who cut the meat with those big cleavers before we ate really knew what they were doing!

it is cold here......also had a chat with some lawyers and a couple of dentists at lunch - based on what they asked and my response it would appear that I may indeed have something to look at with respect to legal avenue.

there is precedent as well with the surgeon, not that I knew of at the time.....interesting times ahead

Now, this morning, so far at least (knock wood) these symptoms are not nearly as intense. In fact, I could 'live with' how my gum, lip and teeth feel right now..if only it would last! I have no desire or need at this moment to take any meds for the pain...and when I relax my face it almost feels 'normal'.

How much does stress affect these injuries? Yesterday was a particularly stressful day for me, saying goodbye/last day of work, etc. Or maybe did I eat or drink something the night before that caused my symptoms to flare up the next day? Do nerves sort of have a 'healing surge' from time to time causing more intense symptoms?

The search goes on for the answer to that question and i throughout the course of my injury have been asking the same thing.

For one month i had little or no pain externally and felt things were getting better.

For the last 10 days, even as my medicine has been bumped up i have felt worse externally than ever before and actually feel better internally. I actually chewed something on the right hand side this evening and it didn't cramp up like it has for the past 15 weeks.

When i spoke to the professor on the phone last week to inform him of my pain surge he seemed to think this was a positive. he asked whether the drugs were making me tired, which i answered in the positive, and then merely said OK take a double dose of tegretol at night and we'll reassess next week......strange but the last couple days have been terrible.

Out of interest charlotte, how do your gums, teeth and lip feel exactly? I know its hard to put into words....I've been trying to do it for so long now i've forgotten!

When I swallow, the back of my tongue rubs against the (rather huge) flap left from the operation and it feels, at the same time, like my second molar is lifting up with each swallow. I have to clean this flap with a syringe now every day...food gets trapped there easily.

I can now move the tip of my tongue to feel each tooth on the damaged side...if I push on the second molar there is pain...but no pain on the others when pushed. When I brush the tops of my left bottom molars, it 'feels' or tastes like I'm brushing something metal and hollow?? This part is so hard to describe.

I can brush both sides of my lower teeth with no problem now and with little pain. I can't floss between two of my teeth now because there is no space anymore...before I had a huge gap there and had to floss all the time...now I can't even get the floss in there. I have no idea why. My front tooth has really improved. This is the one that has almost continuously had (and still has sometimes) the 'vice grip' feeling in it. It almost feels normal now most of the time.

My gum on the left lower side just feels 'dead'...like a small log inside my mouth...sigh. I do have some feeling there when I brush..but it is not normal by any means yet. It is what I actually notice the most...the 'deadness' of that area. I move the inside of my cheek against it all the time for some reason...and it just feels terrible.

The inside of my chin (in front of my front teeth) drives me crazy. My top front teeth touch this area almost all the time because I have an overbite. This area has the 'not quite out of the numbing effect' that I would feel after a 'normal' dental procedure...only it is lasting for weeks.

My bottom lip burns from the inside and these teeth aggravate it. I can get some relief by putting my bottom lip up over my top (if you can imagine that). A poster on another forum gave me a good tip..to keep my lips closed and my tongue behind my front teeth with molars apart as often as possible. That little suggestion has brought so much relief for me...it's a tip that a TMJ doctor gave her. I feel like my lip is burning externally also, but I don't think it is...I think it's all internal. It feels almost like my lip is parched and cracked? Lip gloss does nothing for it.

drugs making me extra zombie like - had a haircut today and fell asleep in the chair. Am worried about the car though, i remember someone telling me who was on Endep with Tegretol that they were at a red in traffic dozed off and only woke up on account of blaring horns.

sleep sleep....

Try to remember that this isn't forever...maybe soon you can start thinking of cutting back on some of the meds...I'm doing ok without them but I think the anti-depressant (as horrible as it was to take) did actually help with my symptoms. Personally, I honestly can't stand feeling 'out of it'...I'm much happier dealing with the limited pain that I have with my Ibuprofen and other things that help. It sounds like you are in more pain than I am though...

Did you end up doubling the dosage of tegretol like your doctor advised? If you have, it just doesn't make sense that you are still experiencing so much pain....

your last sentence pretty much sums it up. doesn;t make sense that the tegretol has been kicked up to double dose in the evening yet I'm getting more pain during the day with the same dose, when this didnt happen previously.

It is a strange one. I see the professor on Tuesday so will see what he says and report back.

Flying home tonight for a cousin's wedding so should be a good weekened.....with family and hopefully lessened pain - here's hoping!!!