Lingual Nerve Injury - week 2

Progress so far this week
Tuesday 29/9/09
Pain rating today = 7 down to 6 then up to 7.5
Pain is now affecting less of my tongue - it's no longer on the tip, just the side (so about 50% less area now affected.
Some facial tingling. No idea what this is.

The pattern I notice is that the pain is least in the morning, then in the evening it increases in intensity. That's happened again today but it's affecting less of my tongue.

Right now I'm going back into the garden to do more hard work and ignore the pain!

Mood = positive




Wednesday 30/9/09
Pain rating: 6.5
Pain still only affecting the outer part of my tongue.
No facial tingling left. Some odd sensation in my upper lip.
Pain seems to ratchet up then go down then ratchet up again in a cycle but each cycle it's a bit better.
I think it's definitely improving. By the end of the day it was probably 50% of what it was originally

Thursday 1/10/09
Woke up to pain and tingling in my lips and face. Felt like a huge setback, but have decided not to be bothered, just to get on with it. Seems to be getting a little better as the day goes on. by the afternoon it was as good as yesterday, so I'd say it's about 50% better.

The only downside is now my lips are a bit sore and tingly, but not intolerably so.


Friday 2/10/09
Pain rating: 6
A bit of a plateau so far today. About the same as yesterday.

Saturday 3/10/09
Pain rating: 3 - 4
Substantial improvement. No bouts of spiking, stabbing pain. Constant tingle, but it's much less pronounced. I often don't notice it.

Sunday 4/10/09
Pain rating: 1
Really barely painful today. tongue still tingling and buzzing but not in a way that's painful.
I'd say I'm 70% recovered.

An anaesthetist I know recommends:

1. Don't focus on the pain. it will makes it worse and increases the chance of chronic pain. She calls it "wind up" - you become more and more sensitive to the pain

This is working for me. When I'm out in the garden or doing exercise, I think about it less and the pain decreases.

2. Get some good pain medications. Normal ones like ibruprofen, asprin etc won't work. You need ones for neuropathy, so go to the GP and if that fails, a specialist (neurologist or maxillofacial surgeon).