He insisted there was no infection and what I was seeing was secondary healing. He assures me that everything looks great, the giant painful lump is scar tissue that I need to massage away and all of my pain is from the trauma of the extraction. No X-rays. It's been 31 days since my extraction, I am still using Sockit, heating pads and Ibuprofen to function. I feel like I'm being dismissed while simultaneously assured to call if I have any concerns. I do have concerns! I have been seen four times post op for pain, told everything looks fabulous and tut tut go home now. I am at a complete loss. Will this pain ever go away?

Snowclover,

Unless the oral surgeon has xray vision allowing him to see into places that are not visible to the eye... he cannot say for certain that there is no problems occurring in the bone or the socket.

You need an xray.

Bryanna

Bryanna,

Thank you for your encouragement. I returned to the oral surgeon again. My face had swollen so huge and was hot to the touch that the infection was pretty evident. He did finally do X-rays where it was determined that I did indeed have a very large and very infected abscess. Emergency incision and drainage was performed yesterday and aside from healing an incision and stitches again I feel so, so much better.

I'm not mad at the surgeon, I think he truly believed I was not infected, but I did learn I should have trusted my instincts and advocated for myself more. I knew it was an abscess for weeks before it was treated.

Thanks again Bryanna.

Snowclover,

To be honest, I would be upset with the oral surgeon if I were his patient and he didn't xray the area when the lump was first discovered. There really was no excuse for him not to take that xray at that time. He could not rule out infection just by taking a clinical look at it and he knows that.

I'm glad you have finally gotten some relief.... but the I&D is no picnic and now you have additional healing to do. I hope it goes well for you.

Yes, please in the future trust your instincts and don't hesitate to make your concerns clear especially when there are obvious signs that something is not healing normally.

Hope your healing is uneventful from this point forward.

Bryanna

I've done a bit of research and learned the risks of untreated abscesses which were not explained to me and I am a bit freaked out.

I'm hoping for an eventless recovery from here as well though I'm terrified of the abscess returning because it was not packed or a drain was not placed. I've lost quite a bit of weight this month being unable to eat and the fear of something going wrong again is terrible.

The stitches from the I&D are very painful and I sleep more than I'm awake to minimize any risk of the abscess returning. I still have referred pain to the ear nearest the abscess and the stiches are so painful I dream that I'm chewing on broken glass most nights. How long is an average I&D recovery? My follow up is in 5 more days and I'm long since out of sick leave so I'll be at work like this all week.

My advice to anyone who discovers a painful lump; demand an X-ray!! It was so much smaller and less painful when I first noticed it. This has been very painful and frightening.

Thank you Bryanna for taking the time to help me and others. I'm afraid to think what would have happened if you hadn't encouraged me to demand an X-ray.

snowclover,

It's best that you don't research about jaw abscesses because every case is a bit different and is treated accordingly. So what you may be reading may not fit your situation at all.

I did not discuss abscesses with you because it may not have been an abscess at the onset and I did not want to alarm you unnecessarily. That is why I kept stressing to have the xray done.

The area will be sore from the incision and the sutures. Keep in mind that there is an infection which causes a great deal of inflammation. So the area is "heated up" to begin with. Making an incision in a hot inflamed area is going to result in soreness

You need to keep the area clean. Did the os recommend salt water rinsing? If the salt stings, then just use warm water to rinse with. NO mouthwash.

You can also apply moist heat (comfortably warm) to the outside of your face over this area a few times a day. The moist heat draws the blood to flow into the area which can reduce pain and swelling and speed up the healing.

You need to watch for swelling, fever, or an increase rather then decrease of pain within the next 2-3 days. If any of those develop, do not hesitate to get back to the oral surgeon. Just a note ... if this os is making you feel put off or that he's not concerned about this infection, please consider consulting with a different oral surgeon. You would need pre and post op xrays to see a new surgeon.

Bryanna

I didn't mean to imply any kind short coming with your advice, you probably saved me! I'll stop googling because it is scary!

I am doing salt water rinses and will watch for this things. Thank you again!