Monday, May 24, 2010

Curiouser and curiouser

To quote from Alice in Wonderland, who I must say I feel scarily related to these days,
"Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised)....."And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it."

Like Alice, I'm at a loss for the right words, and wondering how to manage things.Today the feeling is one I can't quite describe, except to say it feels like my mouth is...freezer burned?!

It's as though I've been pressing my teeth into something ice cold all day long, and the entire mouth from tongue to the roof feels...like freezer burn, if there is such a thing. Even chewing on the right side hurts today and my injury is on the left. Hmmm.

Good ol' clonazepan doesn't help at all with this stinging. So the pain, annoyingly constant, and none of my usual remedies worked. I need some new magic tricks for this new kind of pain! It's so distracting, probably because I can get a handle in it - that old control freak thing again.

As those who follow the blog may know, I had initial work on 2 new root canals done recently, only now they aren't so fresh and new, as I've been avoiding dental work like the plague. One has had a "temporary" crown on it since about February (supposed to be on for 2-3 weeks). The other was a re-do of an old root canal - that one still has the initial filler they put in your tooth before the gutcha percha cement type stuff. I have an appointment to finish out that one next week.

So I've been walking around in limbo like this with lots of unfinished business going on in my mouth for months.

What concerns me, for those of you who've got knowledge of root canals, is that those teeth still hurt when I touch them. Even if I just press gently with my tongue. And of course biting down is a very bad idea. Since they've removed the nerves in these teeth, shouldn't I feel nothing by now????

That's the bad part, now, the good:

As opposed to weeks past, I can happily say my left ear, while still highly sensitive, at least no longer seems to give me those stabbing earaches. Out in public I find myself having to dodge stereo speakers. I'm like a grandmother because I constantly am bothered by piped in music in any public place. Is it just me, or is it really TOO LOUD in here?!

I'm taking the fact that my symptoms are changing to be a sign of progress. No, they haven't subsided, but they are...different.
Yet someone reminded me recently that, if you haven't recovered by 3 months, you are quite likely looking at permanent damage.

I, being the stubborn, rebellious sort, refuse to believe that I am just screwed up for life, and am still holding out hope that this is a trend overall, and my symptoms, at 5 months, are ....evolving. I hope the old (crunching glass, etc.) symptoms that have been replaced by new ones aren't just on vacation, til they return with a vengeance, as so often happens

1 comment:

  1. I may have some answers about the sensitive root canals. My dentist said that the pain of the nerve injury can travel down other nerves in the area, my root canal was sore for about 7 months. Someone on sciential suggested that I go back and have it worked on some more... as if... I went to my new dentist and he did a bit adjustment on the tooth right above and that helped a lot. Also had a chiro put my jaw back in place. As mentioned before I also wear a mouth guard and I think this has all helped with the throbbing teeth. Not perfect but much better.

    ReplyDelete