<p>Well, my DD decided that she would get her wisdom teeth out prior to Christmas so she would be able to enjoy the rest of her time off. She had her wisdom teeth out on Tuesday and is just miserable. She is so swollen and in so much pain. She is used to being in pain, she’s a dance major but this is so much more so. She can’t sleep, can’t eat and they doubled her vicodin and still she is in pain. Anyone else going through this or has gone through this? Poor thing, looks like a sad little chipmunk.</p>
<p>My kids found that cold packs (switched from one side to the other every 15 minutes or so) helped a lot on the first day, but I don’t know whether cold would still be helpful on the third day.</p>
<p>My son also said that an intensely involving activity helped because it distracted him from the pain, but this may have been an excuse to obtain a new video game at Mom’s expense.</p>
<p>Try as much as possible to keep her in a semi upright position. If you have a recliner this is perfect for that. Don’t let her lie down past 45 degrees as the swelling will get worse. At this point it may not be a matter of getting ‘worse’ as she’s already swollen, but it may help relieve the pressure. We used frozen navy beans as a cold compress as they aren’t too cold to put directly on the skin and they don’t melt. They may simply make her feel better (again, not a preventative at this point).</p>
<p>Here are a couple of threads on wisdom teeth that may offer some help. Hope your daughter is feeling better soon!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1305383-another-wisdom-tooth-thread-twist.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1305383-another-wisdom-tooth-thread-twist.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1069981-talk-me-about-wisdom-teeth.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1069981-talk-me-about-wisdom-teeth.html?</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/971039-wisdom-teeth.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/971039-wisdom-teeth.html</a></p>
<p>If I remember correctly, third day was the turning point. Our doctor told our kids not to move around too much or have visitors for few days. Do not use straw to sip, and most importantly, rinse with salt water few times a day for few weeks. If she doesn’t feel better soon, I would call the doctor.</p>
<p>You guys are the greatest! Thanks so much for the advice and keep it coming. Don’t we all hate to see our kids in pain?</p>
<p>My surgeon said the second and third day would be the worst, which was true for me. It was significantly better after that. I made the mistake of not waking up to take more meds when they wore off in the middle of the night and then woke up miserable in the morning and it took hours to get the pain under control again, I would do that differently if I had to go through it again. I would also have avoided laying down and slept propped up. I found moist heat to be better than ice after the first day and took a lot of warm baths! For me the more I ate the less tense my jaw was and the less I hurt.</p>
<p>If she isn’t doing much better soon I would make sure she doesn’t have dry socket.</p>
<p>We kept dd in ice packs pretty much non-stop for the first 3 days. I propped her up with pillows in the corner of the couch, applied ice packs–skip the wrapping in towels just the plastic freezer bag is fine-then wrapped her face with 3 hand towels, one under her chin, and one on each side of her face to keep the ice packs in place. Keep her upright as much as possible–sleep in a recliner if possible. The more she ices the faster the swelling will go down and the faster the pain will subside.</p>
<p>Sounds like possible dry socket to me. My S had that after he had his wisdom teeth removed. He was sent home with pain killers. They did not work, so I called and they changed the prescription. The new ones did nothing. Finally on day 3 after nights of no sleep because of the pain, he went back, they diagnosed the dry socket, fixed it and he went into NYC that night with friends since he felt so much better.</p>
<p>I would have her go back to the oral surgeon to check.</p>
<p>I got mine out on a Friday during senior year of high school and by the following tuesday or wednesday I had pizza for lunch (albiet small bites).</p>
<p>I hope she feels better soon. I agree wit the above - salt water should help, stay upright and ice it.</p>
<p>My D got hers out in Sept. She iced for three days just like Steve’s - with the strap from our icepack wrapped around under her chip and up on top of her head - she looked absoluetly ridiculous. But it kept her comfortable enough and she had no complications.</p>
<p>As I recall, however, the instructions said on day 3 heat might give more relief than ice so if she isn’t getting relief from ice, try some heat and see if that helps.</p>
<p>S had his wisdom teeth out on Tuesday morning (he only had two, both on top). The pain is pretty much gone and he’s been eating regular food since yesterday. Everything went a lot more smoothly than I expected. If only his grades had gone as well… :mad:</p>
<p>We bought D LOTS of smoothies, as she didn’t want to consume anything else. Found a place that has healthier and less sweet smoothies than Jamba, as that was what she requested. Sometimes she wanted it in a bowl and ate it with a spoon and the rest of the time she had it via straw (but now straw for the first few days so as not to dislodge the clot and cause DRY SOCKET). She was very careful about following all the instructions, especially after her friend developed excruciating dry socket. Good luck! By the end of the week she was pretty good, so your kiddos should be fine by Christmas.</p>
<p>I remember lots of ice - putting it on the minute DD left the dentist chair and using it off and on for quite a while. If she’s taking good pain meds every 4 to 6 hrs. with no relief, I’d take her back to the doctor.</p>
<p>Not sure if it is dry socket, I believe that that pain occurs a few days after teeth are pulled and the clot is dislodged. Were they impacted? I would call surgeon tomorrow if not better. She should not be on a double dose of vicodin at this point. As a dance major, I know she must have a high level of pain tolerance. Others posted great advice about ice, (if there is swelling), and elevating her head. I hope she turns the corner this evening and feels better tomorrow.</p>
<p>I had my wisdom teeth yanked out a couple of years ago. Thankfully, I was sore only a 2 or 3 days. The oral surgeon prescribed a narcotic which I only took a couple of days–I didn’t want to be drugged up too long. What was worst for me was getting hives all over my body after taking an antibiotic prescribed too by the oral surgeon–the hives went away soon after I stopped taking the antibiotic.</p>
<p>I agree that if you wait till meds completely wear off, it takes more to relieve the pain, but I would be concerned about doubling the dose for something like that.</p>
<p>If hydrocodone isnt working, I think that she may need to be seen, if she isnt sleeping because of pain, or something else could be tried.
I dont remember that Vicodin was that effective, but I took it for a concussion.</p>
<p>I also woke D up round the clock for a few days to take her meds, that seemed to help.</p>
<p>How’s your daughter doing today? I hope she has turned the corner and on the way to recovery.</p>
<p>Taking 2 vicodin doesn’t usually create a problem short-term. Just be sure she isn’t overdoing things, cut her diet back to foods that don’t need chewing, use a heating pad if it helps, talk less, keep taking meds on schedule to stay on top of the pain.</p>
<p>Dry socket occurs 2-5 days after the extraction. Pain would be getting worse and drugs don’t take even the edge off. Lower extractions always have more pain and swelling.</p>
<p>Another idea: With the oral surgeon’s permission, both of my kids switched from narcotics to ibuprofen after a day or so. One took the maximum allowed dose (which is twice the maximum allowed over-the-counter dose). The other had less pain and only took over-the-counter doses.</p>
<p>The rationale here is that ibuprofen, unlike narcotics, relieves pain but doesn’t make you sleepy. So you can do things during the day, and doing things distracts you from the pain.</p>
<p>Your daughter might want to ask whether this is acceptable. Some health care providers don’t want you to take ibuprofen too soon because it can promote bleeding, but after a couple of days, this shouldn’t matter much.</p>
<p>Another points about meds: Vicodin contains acetaminophen (the same ingredient as Tylenol) as well as a narcotic. You can’t just keep increasing your doses of Vicodin because you risk getting too much acetaminophen, which can wreck your liver. If Vicodin doesn’t provide enough pain relief, the answer isn’t more Vicodin. It’s getting a stronger narcotic (the next step up is Percocet, I believe).</p>
<p>In my D’s case, narcotics didn’t help much. She took advil to keep the swelling down. That helped. She was in pain for a week or two. For her the third day was not a turning point at all. Everyday in the first week after the surgery was the worst day. She had all 4 teeth out on the same day.</p>
<p>Our D used ice packs & anything out of the freezer for several days. She took the pain narcotics for several days and gradually switched to OTC painkillers. She was pretty good after a week of smoothies. I think everyone is different with respect to pain threshhold, but if the patient is doubling up on pain narcotics, the professional who removed the wisdom teeth needs to be consulted.</p>