"Gentle jaw stretches and warm compresses can sometimes speed things up a bit—but again, everyone's mileage varies."
This is so true. I remember when I had mine out, I was pretty surprised by how sore my jaw muscles felt—not just the extraction sites themselves. It took me about 10 days before I felt comfortable enough to eat anything remotely crunchy, and even then, I regretted trying tortilla chips too soon (lesson learned the hard way...). Honestly, it was probably closer to three weeks before I felt completely normal again.
One thing that really helped me was alternating between warm compresses and gentle ice packs. The warmth relaxed my jaw muscles, and the cold helped with swelling. Also, staying hydrated seemed to make a difference in how quickly the soreness eased up. But yeah, patience is key—it's definitely not a one-size-fits-all recovery. Glad your daughter's on the mend now, sounds like she's right on track.
Yeah, I underestimated the jaw soreness too—felt like I'd been chewing gum nonstop for a week. Tried pizza crust around day 7...big mistake. Warm compresses were my best friend, though ice packs just made me grumpy. Glad she's feeling better!
"Warm compresses were my best friend, though ice packs just made me grumpy."
Funny, ice packs were the only thing that kept me sane. Warm compresses felt nice at first, but then my swelling got worse... freaked me out a bit. Guess everyone's different with this stuff.
Totally agree, everyone's different with recovery. Ice packs were a lifesaver for me too—especially the first couple days when swelling peaked. Warm compresses actually made my jaw feel achy and weirdly heavy, like it was adding to the inflammation rather than helping. I read somewhere that ice is usually better early on to control swelling, and warmth works best later for stiffness or muscle tension. Guess it really does depend on your body's reaction though...
Same here, ice was my best friend at first, but after day three or four, warm compresses actually felt soothing for me. Funny how our bodies react differently... Took me about a week before I stopped feeling like a chipmunk, haha.
