When I push against my gums by the nerve I can still feel a really sharp pinching on the end of my tongue which tells me that somehow the nerve is transmitting feeling to my brain (point being... my nerve isn't severed)

I went ahead and scheduled a surgery because he said the quicker he takes care of it, the better chance the surgery will be successful.

My question is....
1. Do I go on with the surgery or do I give it more time to heal? I'm kind of afraid that my nerve really isn't severed although he says that it probably is and that he is going to perform the surgery and make it even worse than it already is.

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, just a little FYI: I read many other stories on this board and I keep everyone in my thoughts and prayers.

First of all, I'm so sorry for your injury and suffering. I am in the same boat as you. My lingual nerve was severed on 4/2/03 during wisdom tooth extraction (lower left) by a qualified, reputable oral surgeon. I am scheduled to have lingual nerve repair surgery by a surgeon in Boston on 9/26/03. I waited about 2 months (during which time the original OS that did the damage said it would improve on its own) before I decided to see a specialist (my OS did not refer me; I went on my own). At my first visit to the specialist (2 months post-injury) I displayed only deep anesthesia (i.e. numbness) and no other symptoms. The specialist told me to return in another month, which I did. At that time, he re-examined me and I displayed a symptom very similar to the one you describe now--i.e. pain along the damaged side of the tongue when pressure is applied to the injury site. My specialist described this as "Tinel's sign" and it is almost always indicative of a neuroma. My understanding of a neuroma is that it is a kind of scar tissue that forms when a severed nerve tries to grow back together and does so improperly. I am not an expert by any means, so please ask your own doctor to explain your symptoms in your particular case! My specialist explained that during the surgery, he would attempt to remove the scar tissue and sew the 2 clean ends of the nerve back together, thus giving the nerve a chance to connect more effectively. He explained to me that there are no guarantees with this surgery. It may or may not restore some feeling and it may or may not relieve some pain. It probably will not restore the sense of taste lost on the injured side. I am going ahead with it because it is my only chance (albeit a slim one) to feel better and regain some function.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do. If you want more information, or if you'd like to talk about the procedure more, just email me (I am a registered user; I think you would have to register to use the email function).

Jean G.