Neuralgia, Jaw Infection, or just need time to heal?
 

Hello everyone. I'll try to keep this as short as possible. I had a root canal on tooth #13 in April. It gave me severe side affects as soon as I got it. I had it retreated then had it pulled at the beginning of June. There was a large abcess found behind this tooth, so whatever it was, something was wrong. Anyway, after about a week after the extraction I started having phantom tooth symptoms. I felt a lot of pressure and still had pain in the area. My face aslo began to burn- it was like it was on fire. I had the doctor reopen the extraction site 2 weeks later because I was so sure there was something in there. Well, there wasn't. Then the pain became extreme, electric shocks, stabbing, just pain in general. That was about a month ago. Now, I have been feeling a little better, but I still have facial pain. I was told this might be neuralgia. So here are my questions- is this something that will go away on its own in time (maybe I just need a little more time to heal). Or is it possible that I might have some kind of infection in my jaw ( I do have some swelling in that area still). Has anyone had a similar experience?

Hi Ilana, I had a similar experience with an extraction of #14 many years ago. It was of a burning nature, not in my face like you describe, but in the gum. I saw a facial pain specialist who diagnosed it as atypical neuralgia. They told me it's common in women about 45 years old or so (which I was) and following a maxillary molar extraction. They gave me a very low dose of elavil. I hate taking drugs but they give low doses of tricyclic antidepressants for chronic pain. It helped but I stopped after about 6 months.

It came and went over the years and the reason I am so scared of any dental procedure is that it hurts long after it should for some teeth, not all. I had a few extractions that went really well.

When they tell you neuralgia, well, that simply means inflammation of a nerve, which is is but there are several forms of it. The shooting electric pains could be a form of trigeminal neuralgia but I get them and do NOT have this so please don't get nervous about that. I don't get it frequently enough to have that diagnosis. But...pain is pain and it's no fun. I think yes, your nerves are firing now but it can just be a temporary irritation that has to calm down. April is still pretty recent. Does aspirin or ibuprofen help? You can ask your dentist for a referral to an oral pain specialist (sometimes called orofacial dentist or doctor) if it continues. As far as still having an infection, of course, I wouldn't know, I'll leave that to the medical people on this board and your dr. I am so sorry you are going through this, I surely know what it's like.

I just realized that I posted a similar reply on your post 2 weeks ago. I agree that you should see a specialist, did you find one? Did he give you a name?

Hi Sandy, thanks so much for your information. I too am hoping this will somehow flare down in the next few months. I did see a neurologist who prescribed Lyrica to help with the pain. I guess the only thing we can do now is just wait and see. Thanks again!