"ice cream felt like biting into Antarctica weeks after surgery"
Haha, yep, that was me too. Cold stuff was way worse—hot drinks didn't bother me much at all. Took about three weeks before ice cream stopped feeling like torture... warm foods were fine after the first week.
Haha, cold stuff was brutal for me too. Weirdly enough, I found room-temp foods were the sweet spot—like mashed potatoes or lukewarm soup. Ice cream sounded like a great idea at first (you know, classic wisdom teeth recovery food), but nope... felt like my jaw was being flash-frozen from the inside out.
For me, it took about two weeks before I could comfortably handle anything colder than room temperature. Hot drinks weren't an issue at all after the first few days, though. I remember cautiously sipping tea expecting pain, but it was totally fine. Guess everyone's nerves heal differently?
Anyway, hang in there—it does get better. Before you know it, you'll be back to eating ice cream without feeling like you're chewing on glaciers.
Totally relate on the lukewarm foods—mashed potatoes were my lifeline too. Weirdly though, hot drinks were a no-go for me way longer than cold stuff. Tea felt like lava even after a week, but smoothies were fine after just a few days. Did anyone else find that chewing felt awkward even after the pain was gone? Like your jaw had forgotten how to work properly...
"Did anyone else find that chewing felt awkward even after the pain was gone? Like your jaw had forgotten how to work properly..."
Totally get what you're saying about the jaw feeling off—I had the same weird sensation. But for me, hot drinks were actually comforting pretty early on. Warm tea (not boiling, obviously!) felt soothing rather than painful. Cold stuff, on the other hand, made me super anxious about sensitivity. Guess everyone's recovery quirks are a bit different... Glad we're past that stage now though, right?
I remember that weird jaw feeling too, like my mouth was suddenly out of sync with my brain. Took me a good couple of weeks before chewing felt natural again. I think part of it is just your muscles adjusting after being swollen and sore for a while. One thing that helped me was gently stretching my jaw a few times a day—nothing intense, just slowly opening and closing my mouth to ease stiffness. Warm compresses on the sides of my face also seemed to relax things a bit.
Funny you mention hot drinks—I was the opposite. Warm stuff made me nervous at first, but cold smoothies were my lifesaver. Guess it really does vary from person to person. Either way, it's such a relief when you finally realize you're chewing normally again without even thinking about it... Hang in there, it'll feel totally normal soon enough.
