wisdom teeth removal recovery • my herbal healing protocol
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and once recovery began, i leaned into that more than ever.
healing doesn’t look the same for everyone. but for me, it meant slowing down, staying close to what i prepared, and supporting my body in simple, intentional ways.
this is what wisdom teeth recovery looked like for me, day by day.
if you missed how we got here, read about it here in part one.
wisdom teeth removal recovery timeline
day one (day of surgery):
before surgery we applied sleep tight magnesium spray on my neck and shoulders to avoid them being sore after surgery. this was gonna help keep my muscles relaxed while laying down for surgery. after surgery there was lots of bleeding is going on, obviously. i had my mouth cut open four times. the car ride, i kept the ice pack strap thingy locked in around my head & jaw. the first mission was going home and getting me laid down. when we left the office, i used borion arnica cream on my face and neck for the swelling and to help manage any bruising, as well as pain. when we arrived home, my husband changed out my gauze. if you hate the taste of metal, this part sucks… i also struggle with iron levels so i really needed to be careful and ensure we watched the blood levels.
once i was propped up and as cozy as i could be, my husband slightly warmed up a tad bit of my inflammation tea blend. this blend was obviously created to help lessen inflammation and i needed that desperately. in the previous blog, i mentioned how i had all these prepped already since you shouldn’t drink hot drinks while recovering. (if you do, it can dislodge the blood clot & no one wants that) after i drank some tea off and on, i’d rotate short naps in there too. once the sedation fully ran its course, the pain was kicking in fast. we replaced my gauze two times and the third, i’m quite sure i stuck the gauze directly into the incision and caused myself a mass amount of pain.
we noticed the prescription didn’t go through properly and could only pick up the ibuprofen and the prescribed mouthwash first. i’m truly not a fan of ibuprofen so i avoided taking it for awhile. i opted for more borion arnica cream, magnesium spray and earthley’s pain portion tincture. we had to call the surgeons office a few times to get the issue fixed and unfortunately that wasn’t until the next evening. in the meantime, the marshmellow root tea, clove tea, mashed potatoes & cinnamon applesauce is what i was working with. an occasional thing i’d eat to try and temporarily numb my mouth were the heb creamy creation ice cream cups. the marshmellow root tea almost provides instant relief.
sleeping the first night was extremely uncomfortable, and the swelling was minimal which was great. i’d personally recommend you follow the upright sleeping position because it takes away so much pressure from your mouth. i’m an avid side sleeper so it was tough but so helpful.
day two (the day after surgery)
i was solo parenting for the morning, which proved to be a bit tough while in this state. my mom came that day to help and that was nice. i laid down a lot of the day with occasional times to get up and take sips of my tea. between keeping my head elevated and downing smoothies, the pain was not ideal. throbbing was a common thing that kept happening. on this day, i rotated the arnica cream, magnesium spray and ice packs. lots of ice this day to help the pain.
to help my neck and shoulders from staying so tense, i opted for my ache away balm to help those muscles release tension. this was so needed, especially when the pain got really extreme for my mouth. having so much pain confined to that area would cause off and on headaches.
the two drinks that helped me a lot for day two was the marshmellow root and clove tea. i rotated these with a bit of the inflammation tea. my mouth did experience some swelling this day, but it still wasn’t bad at all. it was more just annoying to deal with. it didn’t help my face was already swollen prior to surgery and i got a busted lip two days before surgery. therefore, the extra swelling made eating with a spoon a hair more difficult.
when my husband got home from work, we were able to go pick up the remaining two prescriptions i had. i was prescribed amoxicillin & hydrocodone. i finally took the amoxicillin & hydrocodone that night. the hydrocodone made me fall asleep on & off for the entire duration it was in my body. i learned quickly i would not be able to take this without someone home.
day 3 & day 4
day three was good for sleep, i got to sleep in a bit extra and was able to take the hydrocodone to sleep some more throughout the day. this was extremely helpful for the day of resting. i was supposed to be traveling to a market in austin & i’m thankful the weather canceled because i would have been very limited on talking. my swelling stayed minimal and i was able to get more smoothies in. my go to smoothies were the angel food one from smoothie king because it was closest. my ultimate favorite is the island green smoothie from tropical smoothie. that is my go to smoothie any day. i was still unable to eat any food that required chewing. my pain was awful still. i limited my talking a lot. i would text my husband to let him know what i was trying to say.
i am a huge straw drinker and that is the best way for me to stay hydrated. i am already chronically dehydrated so i tried really hard to make sure i was sippin’ on things throughout the day. the drinks i rotated for these two days were: iron strong, inflammation and ultimate sick day. the ultimate sick day requires honey mixed in because it is strong. we use keepers harvest honey.
day four was pretty much the same as day three. i handled the animals a bit more this day to do check ins and give vitamins to the kids. i spent some time outside with them and then resumed resting. sleep this night was okay. i took the hydrocodone to help me get a better rest. the magnesium spray, ache away balm and arnica cream were still on rotation.
day 5 through day 7.
i went with my husband to work every day for a week, so up until day 8. this was really helpful because he could come check on me because the pain scale was definitely still bad. i opted for taking the amoxicillin & ibuprofen twice a day. the ibuprofen didn’t seem to help much but nonetheless it helped some. sleep was better because i could comfortably sleep on my side again. to help me stay comfortable, i bunch up a blanket and make a pocket where my jaw stays. this is the most efficient way to sleep how i usually do and not add any pressure to my mouth. every time i took my medication i would apply the arnica cream on my jar and the magnesium spray on my neck and shoulders. i did still occasionally use ice packs for when my mouth hurt the most.
i believe something that made this process harder, was the fact that the medication made me light headed and gave me more lightheaded flare ups. i’d have to get up extra slow and standing was something that was tough. showers were even worse no matter how lukewarm the water was. my recommendation is that if you suffer from dizziness and lightheadedness, then move extra slow.
one thing that really sucked was the fact i still couldn’t chew anything. the other thing that sucks is this weird aftertaste that the dried blood and residue creates. logically it makes sense, but no matter how much i rinsed out my mouth or used the mouthwash, that weird taste would still linger.
one thing that really stuck with me is that recovery isn’t just the timeline they give you. it lingers, and it’s deeply dependent on your body. (thankfully i already knew my mouth heals slow, so i was pretty prepared for a longer recovery timeline) your body will keep asking for support, and it will ask in different ways.
in part three,, i’ll share where i’m at now, what’s still lingering, and what’s actually helping me the most so far.
