I totally get the Netflix distraction thing—I binged through two seasons of a show I'd never even heard of before my stitches finally dissolved. Salt water rinses were okay for me, but honestly, I found chamomile tea rinses way more soothing. Warm (not hot!) chamomile tea seemed to calm the irritation better than anything else I tried. Did anyone else find certain foods or drinks unexpectedly helpful during recovery?
Reading your post made me realize how different everyone's recovery experiences can be. I haven't tried chamomile tea yet, but now I'm curious if it would've helped me more than salt water did. Honestly, the salt water rinses felt kinda harsh on my gums—anyone else feel like that?
One thing that surprised me was yogurt. I mean, I knew it'd be easy to eat, but I didn't expect it to actually soothe my mouth. Maybe it's because it was cold or something, but it really helped calm down the swelling and irritation after my surgery. I ended up eating way more yogurt than I ever thought I would... like, tubs of it, haha.
Did anyone else have trouble with hot foods or drinks? I found even lukewarm stuff uncomfortable at first, so I stuck mostly to cold smoothies and shakes. But then again, I keep hearing people recommend warm teas and soups, so maybe I'm just overly sensitive?
Also, random question: did anyone else get paranoid about accidentally pulling out their stitches? Every time I ate anything remotely chewy or solid, I was convinced I'd messed something up. I spent way too much time staring in the mirror checking if everything was still intact. Glad that's over now, but man, recovery anxiety is real.
