Pain after wisdom tooth extraction

[maz1993]

Hi-
Help please! I had 4 wisdom out last Sunday under GA. All went well until Tuesday when the pain really hit. Codeine 30mg only thing touching pain but I now cant have more as only prescribed for 3 days maximum.
The night times are terrible I can barely sleep and the pain is excruciating. Its 3am and I am up again miserable looking for ice packs and more pain relief. I have had all week off work and due to return Monday. I m a teacher and just not sure how i’ll cope if no better. I paid £30 for emergency dentist yesterday who said no dry socket as I suspected with the pain- just that the bottom left socket very swollen and stitches are very tight which is causing the pain. and to basically carry on what Im doing. Ive read people feeling better within the week. Has anyone else had this pain for nearly a week? Its a throbbing burning feeling in jaw its so uncomfortable I cant leave the house or be around people. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Help. please xx thankyou

I was told by my dentist to take paracetamol every 4 hours interspersed with ibuprofen too, so 5am paracetamol, 7am ibuprofen, 9am paracetamol, 11am ibuprofen and so on - you'll be getting pain relief every two hours. I found ibuprofen gave me the most relief.

Also, warm salt water rinses, I was amazed at how well these worked,

Lastly are they sure there's no infection that you need antibiotics for? You should be feeling better every day, not worse.

Hope you feel better soon, toothache is hideous and relentless, you poor thing.

@maz1993 I’m sorry you have so much pain-sounds very like my experience when I had all 4 of mine out under GA, and that level of pain went on for almost a fortnight-and like you there was no infection. When are you due to get your stitches out? That was when the pain eased a bit for me…I had to get mine under GA because I had -as it was put to me-particularly kinky roots-so there was a lot more had to be done to get them out of my actual jaw, so this was why the pain and inflammation was so bad. I wonder if this is why you’re suffering so badly too?
The only advice I can offer is that soluble paracetamol worked better for me than solid tablets -it worked faster, but I do remember clock watching as I was always desperate for the next dose💐💐

I'd be inclined to get more codeine

I think it's 3 days due to it being addictive but I'd chance another 3 - you can buy 3 days from pharmacy

If its very bad then I'd be going to a dentist to make sure you don't have dry socket or an infection

This was the protocol for my DD and she said it was very effective.

I was going to suggest checking for dry socket, but you already did. My son had that and it was awful.

I hope you get relief soon OP.

I had 2 out And had pain for 2.5 weeks. On codeine 4 times a day and ended up having antibiotics on week 2.
Worse pain i’ve ever had. Not have my others out.

I will do every 2 hours today! i also find ibrufen the best too other than codiene. i went to dentist yesterday and he said no infection so ive no idea what to do now. :-(

Sorry you had such a rubbish time too! it’s honestly awful. Did you manage to work through it? I am panicking about returning to work Monday in this state xx

aww thanks so much for replying. My stitches are meant to dissolve themselves but dentist said yesterday they are far too tight and they have been over cautious. but told me to just carry on what im doing so £30 for 5 minutes of no help. did you manage to return to work? i am just not coping at all far worse than recovery after child birth xxx

thankyou ill go today xx

I went yesterday said no infection but stiches very tight on left bottom socket and gave me nothing to help xxx

I was o ly 18 when I had mine done, so a long time ago, but I think I had 2 weeks off uni and my Saturday job-it’s definitely not “just” getting a couple of teeth out-youve had a general anaesthetic and major surgery! Be kind to yourself and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

My DD had her four out a couple of months ago. It was a tricky op because the bottom two were growing in horizontally and they had to drill bone and break the teeth to get them out. I was expecting the absolute worst but she got through with paracetamol and ibuprofen and felt ok a few days later, which surprised me. They did, however, give her antibiotics to take to deal with any potential infection, so not sure if that made a difference.

I hope yours feels better soon OP.

Aw thankyou! I just feel so dramatic but the pain is absolutely awful and Im not sleeping. Really thought id be over the worst of it now xxx

thanku so much xxxx

Its. been another rough night. Do you think Ill be able to get a sick note for another few days off work? I have already been off all week. I just wont be able to cope teaching all day in this pain. 😭 Im tempted go to dentist again too for another check x

I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t get a sick not-especially as a teacher, as I imagine you’ll spend most of your days talking. I’m sorry it’s so rough for you-it does sound similar to my experience. I’mnot sure what another dentist visit would achieve other than possibly peace of mind+unless you ask if they can remove the stitches? Just because they’re supposed to dissolve doesn’t mean they can’t be removed manually… I do remember the relief when I had my stitches out

yeah true probably be a waste of £30 just to be told to carry on. I know will ring my doctor in morning try at least get a couple more days I wont cope teaching all day its been a nightmare. thanku xx

ok. I’m a dental anaesthetist.

I would suggest regular Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.

4x1g Paracetamol (2 tablets at a time) in 24 hours
4x 400mg Ibuprofen (check how much is in the tablets you have as they come in 200mg and 400mg strength) in 24hours.
space these drugs out over the 24hours.

If things are terrible (sounds like it) and you tolerate ibruprofen and haven’t been taking a lot in the past few days I’d load myself up with a one off dose of 600 mg.

if you can get to the pharmacy you can buy co-codamol from the pharmacist. It’s weaker than prescription stuff but it does contain 8mg of codeine with 500mg paracetamol in each tablet. You could substitute two of these for Paracetamol each time in the above regime.

DO NOT TAKE CO-CODAMOL tablets AND PARACETAMOL together as you will OD on Paracetamol.

if this fails go back to dentist for more analgesia.

Thankyou so much for your advice. xx

Can you go back to the hospital that you had them removed at? They should see you for post-operative pain and will know whether the stitches are the problem, and take them out if they are.

thankyou I will ring them tomorrow xx