Chronic Pain as a Good Thing?

Trigger warning – mention of blood and needles.

Okay, I said I wouldn’t be mentioning my teeth for awhile, but just thought I would report that those two terrible teeth are history! And I couldn’t be happier!

The dentist I was so worried about because I didn’t know him turned out to be friendly, kind and soft-spoken, much like my regular dentist who sent me there. I’ve talked about my aversion to changes and had to go with the trust I have in my dentist that this colleague was an expert at difficult extractions.

I never thought I would hear myself say this but suffering from chronic pain can have its upside. The dentist warned me that he had to put a lot of heavy duty freezing in and that the needle may hurt. There were 7 – 8 hard pokes but not a muscle on my body twinged. He and his assistant were amazed. Not only did my not flinching help me by not giving into the pain, but it helped him get the freezing in faster. Honestly, I didn’t feel much at all. They both remarked I have a very high pain tolerance. Well, ya!

I won’t go into all the details and just say that the whole procedure took about 15 – 20 minutes from the moment he put the freezing in, to when he said, “that’s it, we’re all done”. Even though it seems like a short time, he was very methodical and correctly identified problems before they happened. The important thing is, I know longer catch my tongue on a broken tooth!

I did have some complications with trying to stop the bleeding from the site. In fact, at the time of writing, there is still a little happening. I had a nap, so the pressure I was putting on the gauze relaxed. I phoned the office and wasn’t sure I would get anyone, but sure enough, the assistant was there to assure me that it was okay and keep applying pressure.

Another tidbit I learned is that you can soak the gauze in luke warm tea and then apply it to the area. The tannins in the tea will help the wound to clot better. I looked it up, and you can just place a soaked tea bag over the area as well.

A definite factor in things going so well is that I felt the prayers of my friends and family lifting me up. I was so anxious while trying to fill out the paperwork that I couldn’t focus. However, once I was in that chair, everything just melted away. That’s what faith can do.

Finally, while I was resting and surfing my laptop (yes, to me that is resting!), I came across a video by a young woman with chronic pain. It is a fresh take on taking responsibility and moving ahead despite the obstacles. I have subscribed to her YouTube channel as I was very impressed.

Lydia!