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Racing after wisdom teeth extraction?
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I'm trying to phrase this as a constructive question and not an avenue for me to bitch and cry.

I got my wisdom teeth extracted last Thursday, and recovery just hasn't been there. I ended up with two dry sockets that I've had patched once (yesterday morning). I still feel very tender and am still on the pasta/pudding/protein shake diet, so I will probably go for another patch tomorrow.

As you can see from my signature, my first A race is Sunday. My dentist swears I'll be 100% by Sunday, but he's also telling me things like "recovery time is about 3 days" and "you'll be able to go to work Monday (yesterday), no problem" and (post-patching) "you'll feel better by the time you make it to the parking lot." I'm losing faith.

Anybody out there have similar experiences? Am I kidding myself thinking that I'll be able to give an A race effort after all of this? Or is it really a "lights on" situation, where you wake up feeling back to normal one day? What about pain meds? I'm still on them. Should I scrap the race if I find I still need them, say, Friday night?

Any advice is welcome. Even advice to HTFU. Still, I may not follow said advice. I ran today and it wasn't great; a finish isn't worth it to me to suffer for that long this early in the year.

2014: 40k TT focus

Race reports at http://tripikapp.blogspot.com
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [pat.allen] [ In reply to ]
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Scrap the race man. You don't want to be rushed to the hospital if something happens. Live to do it another day.

http://tricook.blogspot.com/

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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [pat.allen] [ In reply to ]
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I was in a very similar position -- I was one of the "lucky" ones who got dry socket --do NOT HTFU -- take time time heal and recover -- otherwise you will put yourself at risk of getting a lot sicker.

Obviously, you should talk to the doc who removed your teeth, but mine really convinced me that it was okay to stay on pain meds for a couple of weeks -- (I think it was about 3 weeks when the pain finally subsided). Managing the pain properly is critical to helping your body heal.

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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [pat.allen] [ In reply to ]
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Go do the swim and bike and if it hurts too much to run then pull out. Your not gonna do any further harm by racing and I presume you have paid for the race.

T
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [drtommy] [ In reply to ]
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my recovery was long, I guess I was unlucky but man it sucked. I was off work for a week and took 2 weeks for the untolerable pain to go away.

Formely stef32
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [stef32] [ In reply to ]
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stef32 wrote:
my recovery was long, I guess I was unlucky but man it sucked. I was off work for a week and took 2 weeks for the untolerable pain to go away.

Same for me too. It really p***d me off as I'd been led tobelive recovery was rapid.

I wouldn't race unless better. There are some connections between mouth infections and heart problems that you really don't want to provoke.

Get well soon.
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [stef32] [ In reply to ]
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Digging up an old thread but... had the wisdom teeth out on Monday and back to work on now on Wednesday and feeling about 90% or better!

Thinking if too soon for at least a short run on Friday... how long until you were back training?
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [SwimRunTri] [ In reply to ]
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Wisdom tooth extraction is a lot better these days... but I would treat similar to a mild concussion. Keep your face and head cooled down as much as possible before during and after.

Fast walking, biking but I wouldn't amp up the intensity too much until the following week.

My theory: Any kind of injury etc. to the face and head increase the overall cranial temperature which starts to reduce blood flow to the brain. This is the reason for headaches, nausea etc. when exerting after a concussion. Also the reason it's dangerous to swim hard in super warm water.

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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [pat.allen] [ In reply to ]
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Heck no! I had a tooth extraction not long ago due to some really bad dental work I had 15 years ago finally going really awful. That extraction site hurt for weeks after when running. Swimming and biking, no issue, but the up and down motion of running made it feel really odd even painful.

You can swim and bike and walk probably. You won't feel great. Trust me on the if you try running part. I'm not sure it will do any harm, but it is going to feel awful.

--------------------------------------------------------

You will remain the same person, before, during and after the race. So the result, no matter how important, will not define you. The journey is what matters. ~ Chrissie W.
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [SwimRunTri] [ In reply to ]
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If it is not hurting, then you are fine to do a moderate intensity run. If it starts to throb, back off till it doesn't. Pain is a great indicator of problems...that is kind of what it is for.

I had an tooth extracted and an implant placed last year and ran that afternoon (cause I knew I wouldn't be able to the day or three after).

The big risk with wisdom teeth is damaging the clot (suction (straw or spitting) or smoking), fracture (contact sports or hard food) or infection (food impaction or bad luck - increased blood flow will help, not hurt). In the first 48 hours, heavy lifting that leads to clenching can cause some pain issues and delayed healing.

The other big thing to know is that not all wisdom tooth extractions are the same. They can be erupted, soft tissue impacted, partial bony impacted, or full bony impacted, and then within each of those the angulation of the tooth will affect how much bone needs to be removed. Also, lowers will generally have a much more involved extraction than uppers (thicker, denser bone and more variation for odd angles, though uppers will often have three roots in a tripod formation that can be difficult, and will sometimes involve the sinus.)


Good luck with your recovery.
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [pat.allen] [ In reply to ]
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Hey i got my wisdom teeth out last monday and raced this thursday again. i must say my mouth was fine by then but the whole no solid stuff diet made me pretty weak (i dont like eating stuff you cant chew so didnt eat enough before). Keep that in mind and if in doubt i would not race. I could have gone to another race on saturday but decided to leave it out cause i wasnt 100% back yet and hadnt tried it in training.

Get well!
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [pat.allen] [ In reply to ]
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wow

I feel much better about the decision I made in May. The dentist, offered my a choice of having it out, or doing something to it to fix it and make it lower.

I had a race upcoming in a couple of days and took the second choice. It was hot/cold for a week but otherwise fine. Was regretting the decision for a week until I saw this.
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Re: Racing after wisdom teeth extraction? [pat.allen] [ In reply to ]
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pat.allen wrote:
I'm trying to phrase this as a constructive question and not an avenue for me to bitch and cry.

I got my wisdom teeth extracted last Thursday, and recovery just hasn't been there. I ended up with two dry sockets that I've had patched once (yesterday morning). I still feel very tender and am still on the pasta/pudding/protein shake diet, so I will probably go for another patch tomorrow.

As you can see from my signature, my first A race is Sunday. My dentist swears I'll be 100% by Sunday, but he's also telling me things like "recovery time is about 3 days" and "you'll be able to go to work Monday (yesterday), no problem" and (post-patching) "you'll feel better by the time you make it to the parking lot." I'm losing faith.

Anybody out there have similar experiences? Am I kidding myself thinking that I'll be able to give an A race effort after all of this? Or is it really a "lights on" situation, where you wake up feeling back to normal one day? What about pain meds? I'm still on them. Should I scrap the race if I find I still need them, say, Friday night?

Any advice is welcome. Even advice to HTFU. Still, I may not follow said advice. I ran today and it wasn't great; a finish isn't worth it to me to suffer for that long this early in the year.


Question that may have already been asked...

Why on earth would you schedule that procedure 8 days before your A race? (unless it was an urgent emergency, and most of the time, your dentist would be aware that your wisdom teeth is close to crowning, so it shouldn't come as such a shock). If everything went as planned, you probably would still be out of training for 2-3 days, around 5 days before the race. On top of that, your diet is all thrown off schedule. If things didn't go as planned (as they sound like they didn't), your race is now in jeopardy. If it is me, and I had a choice, I would have done the surgery the day after the race, or just assume that I wouldn't race.
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