Surviving your Wisdom Teeth Extraction
Getting my wisdom teeth out has been one of the most daunting things that I have avoided at all costs for the past few years. My mouth is TINY (there's hardly room for all of my normal teeth) so I knew I had to get them out eventually. When I had mono and my body was all inflamed, my wisdom teeth started hurting like h*ll and that's when I knew I had to bite the bullet and get them out when I got back to Kentucky.
The recovery process from getting wisdom teeth out was always the most daunting part of the whole experience. I feared that I'd look like a chipmunk and have to accept my fate of never eating solids again. But, thankfully, a week after my surgery and I am almost fully recovered.
I made it a point to do ALL that I could in order to have a speedy recovery and those things are what I'm sharing with you today! Oh, and all of this is just me sharing MY EXPERIENCE. I am not a doctor nor am I in any place to give medical advice so take what I say with a grain of salt and consult with a medical practitioner before implementing any of this advice.
PRE-SURGERY
Pineapple and pineapple juice! My friend Hannah (who is a beautiful natural redhead and bruises easily) SWORE by this so I had to give it a shot. Basically, drink and eat as much pineapple as possible before surgery. Some people say you're supposed to eat a full pineapple the day before but I just drank a cup of juice every morning and at a full pineapple the two or three days before my surgery.
SUPPLEMENTS
I started these supplements a few days before my surgery and continued taking them until a week after my surgery. I really think they helped to reduce inflammation in my body and quicken the healing processes in my body.
- Turmeric: Great for reducing inflammation in the body and helping the detoxification processes
- Zinc: zinc is vital to wound healing and surgery can decrease zinc levels in the body
- Milk Thistle: A great herb to help support your liver (aka the powerhouse organ that helps your body recovery) which will be under a lot of stress due to the anesthesia, antibiotics, and trauma from surgery
- Arnica 30C: an amazing homeopathic remedy that helps with aches, pains, bruising, and swelling. It reduces inflammation and speeds healing which is helpful :)
- Probiotic: Don't be like me and forget to take your probiotic because antibiotics kill your gut health and a probiotic is a lovely way to balance that and to keep your gut in check
GENERAL ADVICE POST-SURGERY
- The first day, you'll need to chew of gauze to help form blood clots. I alternated between gauze and soaked black tea bags (which apparently help quicken the blood clots?)
- For the first 48 hours, ice 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. I got a thigh high sock and filled it with two quart sized bags of ice and wrapped it around my head. This felt so good to my jaw and helped with the swelling.
- Before bed, CBD oil rubbed on the outside of my cheeks and around my jaw to help with any soreness and loosen up my jaw.
- Rest as much as possible. I slept and binge-watched Shameless for over 48 hours straight after getting my wisdom teeth out. I got them out on a Wednesday at 11am and Saturday was the first time I got out of the house. The first three days, even though I never felt horrible, I forced myself to rest and that helped immensely. By Sunday, I almost felt 100% better.
FOODS I PREPARED AND ATE
I was able to sorta chew things a lot quicker than I expected. For the first 4 days, I had a smoothie for breakfast and slowly worked up from completely liquid foods to soft solids to solids. The first three or four days, I stuck to things that hardly required chewing and I ate sooooo slowly which is unusual for me. By Sunday (4 days post-op), I was able to eat and chew soft solids. I'm still working on regaining my jaw strength to eat tough and chewy things...but baby steps :)
As far as food goes, I prepped quite a few things just to have options and tried to focus on bulking up all of my meals with greens and protein and flavor to feel more satiated and satisfied. I also at vegan for the week because I wanted to eat as little foods that I knew would inflame my body even more (aka dairy lmao)
- Smoothies loaded with protein, fat, fiber, and lots of greens
- Roasted cauliflower garlic and quinoa chowder (RECIPE) usually with chopped, sauteed spinach and kale pesto
- Brioche bread dipped in warmed veggie broth
- Tomato soup with a vegan grilled cheese or kite hill ravioli
- Boxed Mac&Cheese (vegan + made with lentil pasta so gf and protein!) with sauteed spinach
- Vegan ice cream (my favorite)
- Chia seed pudding (blended so the seeds don't give you dry sockets)
- Roasted sweet potato and peanut butter
- Rebbl protein elixirs
Smoothie Recipes:
So, overall, I can't complain. I was never in too much pain. I didn't take the heavy pain killers and didn't get dry sockets...thankfully! But again, this is my experience. The thing about getting your wisdom teeth out is you could do exactly the same things as me but have a completely different experience. I only share these things to hopefully give you some comfort and inspiration in preparation for wisdom teeth removal.
Message me if you have any questions or if you try any of these tips!
