chipmunk cheeks after tooth removal—ice packs vs warm compress?

I've heard some folks swear by ice packs to calm down the swelling, others say warm compresses do the trick better.

I've actually tried both. Ice was great for numbing the pain initially, but after day two or three, warm compresses seemed to ease the swelling faster. Maybe switch it up tomorrow and see if heat makes a difference?

"Ice was great for numbing the pain initially, but after day two or three, warm compresses seemed to ease the swelling faster."

Totally agree with this. Ice packs are lifesavers right after the procedure—really helps keep that initial swelling under control. But after a couple days, heat just seems to get things moving again and speeds up recovery. Did you notice any stiffness in your jaw? Warm compresses helped me a ton with that too... Hang in there, it'll get better soon.

Hmm, interesting points here, but I'm not totally convinced about switching to heat so soon. My dentist warned me pretty clearly about sticking with ice packs longer—said heat too early could actually increase swelling or even trigger bleeding again. Maybe I'm overly cautious (okay, definitely am), but I stuck with ice for almost five days before trying anything warm.

Did anyone else feel like the swelling got worse when you switched to heat? I tried a warm compress once around day three and my cheek puffed up a bit more, freaked me out enough to go right back to ice. Could've been coincidence, I guess...but it made me hesitant. Eventually things settled down fine, but I still wonder if I prolonged recovery by being too quick to switch methods.

Yeah, ice packs were my go-to mainly because they're cheap and easy—just grabbed some frozen peas from the freezer, lol. I tried heat around day four or five, but honestly didn't notice much difference either way. Swelling went down slowly no matter what I did. Maybe it's just one of those things you gotta wait out...and stock up on soup in the meantime.