I never thought that the aftermath of a common surgery would consume my life.

The consent form mentioned the possibility of “altered sensation” following the extraction of a third molar (aka “wisdom tooth”), but by no means did I assume that I would be in that unlucky 1%.

A few hours after surgery, I realized something was not quite right. The left side of my tongue, lower left chin, lip and gums were still numb. There was some sensation, but it felt like they were “asleep.” I also discovered a hematoma in my left cheek about the size of a golfball. The worst symptom, however, other than the gaping holes in my mouth, was the feeling of a vice grip on my lower left teeth. Prescribed painkillers helped take the edge off somewhat, but my only real relief came when I slept.

My mouth became the first thing I thought of in the morning and the last thing I thought of before drifting off to sleep.

What to do?

First off, I decided to research my injury and came across a wonderful online support group - The Lingual and Inferior Alveolar Nerve Damage Discussion Site. Besides offering a great group of people to bounce things off of, this site includes information on nerve damage, possible treatments, and most importantly, for me, were the successful recovery stories. This is what kept me going in the early days of my injury. I literally lived on this board for weeks.

It turns out that my Inferior Alveolar Nerve was damaged during the wisdom tooth extraction. Trademark symptoms include numbness in lip and chin (parasthesia) and a crushing sensation in the teeth.

While most people's nerves eventually regenerate, I was nervous about being in the 1% population that is injured in the first place, so I was only cautiously optimistic. But, as everyone told me, recovery is a matter of time.